Unsung Heroes
by Madmorganman
Summary: Hello Readers! My story here is a clash of series between the 2003 and 2012 cartoon series. Still four ninja turtles, one rat master and all the friends and enemies from both franchises, with my own spin mixed in. Rated M just to be safe. Hope you enjoy!
1. Drastic Change (part 1)

**Me: Hey there! This is my second story folks! My last one was just an experiment, but this time I;m going to take this as seriously as I can! This story is going to mainly mix the 2003 cartoon series with the 2012 series with the latter being the main story line. Now with that out of the way...**

* * *

April 21st, 7:44pm… New York City – 2012

No matter what time it is in New York City, there will always be something happening. Even knowing this, the many millions of people in New York would never have even imagined that here would be four anthropomorphic turtles and six foot tall anthropomorphic rat living in one New York's many abandoned underground subway stations (that could only be found through the sewers and even then it would be easy to get lost). Plus they would've guessed even less that the five were a family, not just any family though- they were a family of ninjas.

The abandoned subway station that the five mutants lived in, had a very lived in feel, as soon as you would walk in through the turnstiles entrance, there for anyone to see would be a large concrete room with a small pit area that had built in benches with no armrests and a working TV at one side of the pit. On said side of pit and behind the TV stood a large metal sliding door that led to a makeshift laboratory of sorts. If you walked in a straight line from the turnstiles you would find a human shaped woolly dummy hanging from a small crane, and even further straight forward you would find a small hall with two doors on each side and each one leading to a bedroom. If you turned right from the turnstiles, you would find two rooms that face each other, on one side you would a small kitchen area with everything here that you would see in a kitchen; a fridge, a cooker, sink, other cabinets for other stuff and in the middle stood a table-sized block of concrete with pipes sticking out through the bottom and into the floor below and was surrounded by tall stools. Across from the kitchen stood a few steps going up towards the dojo area. The dojo had a large bonsai tree (one that looked like one anyway) that you would see first upon entering, the rest of the dojo had its wooden wall decorated with weapons stacks ranging from swords, spears, staffs, daggers, nunchucks etc., and finally at the other end of the dojo stood Japanese style sliding doors that led to another bedroom.

It was at the dojo that the family of five were in, and the four mutant turtles were having a training session in ninjitsu being overseen by the six foot tall mutant rat. The four turtles bowed to each other as they faced one other, they drew their own weapons from the belts that they wore and prepared to spar with one another. Each turtle ninja had distinctively coloured masks that made the four already stand out more than they had already. Besides from the differently coloured masks, each ninja turtles wore more or less the same things; elbow pads, knee pads, two of them wore belts for their own weapons whilst the other two wore belts and holsters for their larger weapons.

One of the turtle ninjas wielded pair of nunchucks and wore an orange mask around his eyes. His name is Michelangelo or Mikey as his brothers called him. He is a very happy-go-lucky turtle that loved pulling pranks, was very loud mouthed but was mindful (most of the time) about what he said. His personality alone could brighten anyone's day and the freckles on his green skin plus his baby blue eyes also helped to stand out more from his brothers. This ninja turtle stood across one of his slightly taller brother ready to spar.

The turtle in question wielded a pair of katana and wore a blue coloured mask around his eyes. This turtle ninja had the most concentration when came to fighting, was always about training, and was usually the more responsible out the four. This turtle's name is Leonardo or Leo to his brothers. Leo didn't have any distinctive features accept for his eyes which were a dark blue unlike Mikey's eyes.

The two were ready to spar with each other and with Leo's katana raised above his head and Mikey's nunchucks spinning, they charged at each other,

"HIYA!"

"Oh yeah! Michelangelo is the move!"

With a grunt, Leo swings his katana at Mikey's head, but Mikey reacts by effortlessly jumps other the swing and front flips onto his feet behind Leo, they turn to face each other again and Mikey spins and whips his nunchucks around his body in a Bruce Lee-like fashion.

"Ya don't know what ta do!" Mikey taunts. Leo simply charges again and swings his sword at Mikey's head again. And Mikey once again jumps over the swing and lands on his feet "I'm here!" Mikey says and Leo swing at his head again, this time Mikey ducks and rolls to one side, then stands "I'm there! I could be anywhere!" Mikey says excitedly but had to duck and roll again as Leo's katana came at his head again. "How can ya stop watch ya can't even see?" as Mikey says this, he moves his body around in a very excitedly cocky manner. He then charges at Leo, but Leo was ready for him. Leo at the last moment, thrusts the hilt of his katana into Mikey's side, and Mikey lost his balance as a result and dropped his weapons. Leo wins this sparring match, and Mikey falls to the ground, groaning. "Like that?" Leo says in response to Mikey's cocky question just seconds before. Mikey raised his right hand and said whilst groaning "…good one Leo…"

After the two had finished, Mikey got up and walked to the side of the dojo with his nunchakus and then the other two turtles prepared to spar.

On one side stood a turtles who wielded a six foot staff (taller than himself), and wore a purple mask around his brown eyes. His name is Donatello or Donnie as his brothers call him. He is undoubtedly the most intelligent than his other three brothers, though he does tend to think too much but that didn't mean he wasn't an impressive fighter. Another feature that made him more different to his brothers was that he was the tallest of his brothers and also had a gap in his teeth. As he stood ready, he expertly spins his staff and points one end of it his brother who stood unarmed.

The turtle responds by tilted his head to both sides of his shoulders and making the joints in his neck pop as a result. "Alright Donnie, put down the staff and turtle in question wielded a pair of sai but they were still held in his belt and he wore a red mask around his eyes green eyes. His name is Raphael or Raph to his brothers. He is the most hot-headed of his brothers by a very long mile and also had short temper that could go on for hours. He was also the shortest of his brothers but only by in inch (maybe less).

In response to Raph's statement, Donnie said, "Er, you that last time Raph and then you hurt me!" Donnie didn't look or sound impressed, but Raph simply stood ready to face his taller brother unarmed,

Yeah, but, less than I would have." Raph said as though it was the truth… which probably was.

"Yeah right." Said Donnie who then began his attack. He spins his staff and charges at Raph, he swings his staff at Raph's head who response ducks and rolls to one side and then quickly jumps back as Donnie smacks one end of his staff onto the ground where Raph had been just half a second ago. Donnie the jabs his staff forward at Raph's face who leans back to avoid the attack and then Donnie spins his staff above his head and then swings his staff down at Raph's head again who immediately steps to one side to avoid and then he ducks and rolls away as Donnie swings his staff at his head once again. Donnie spins his staff around his body and swings the staff at Raph's head who quickly ducks as the staff swings and misses him by a hairs length (not that they had any hair on them), then Donnie made a big mistake by swinging his staff down as he also blinked too long as he did so, and the moment he opened his eyes, he found that Raph had stolen his staff from. Raph then went from leaning on the staff to spinning it and the unceremoniously snapping in in two across his padded knee.

"Should've dropped the staff?" said Donnie and he knew he wasn't going to like what was going to be said and done next.

"Should've dropped the staff!" said Raph as he grinned and he knew he was going like the moment. He twirls both ends of the broken staff and steps forwards to Donnie who in response turns his back to him in order to retreat, but Raph was faster and after repeatedly hitting the shell on Donnie, who covered the back of his head with his hands, Donnie quickly blurts out "Okay, Okay! I'm down! I'm down! I surrender!" Raph seemed happy with that and dropped both ends of the broken staff and turned around to face Leo who stood ready to fight him. Donnie meanwhile had quietly walked to the side of the dojo and kneeled to join Mikey who was also kneeling to watch their brother's sparring match.

Leo and Raph bowed to each other with Leo saying, "Onegai shimasu." And in response Raph simply said, "Whatever you say." They then stood with Leo raising his twin katana poised and ready for their spar and Raph had drawn his twin sai from his belt and also stood ready to fight Leo.

Leo and Raph charged at each other and swung both their weapons at each other, the weapons clashed with a metallic clang, as both tried to overpower the other brother. Eventually, they break the stalemate and Leo swings his katana at Raph's head and Raph leans back to avoid. Raph then charges Leo who swings his katana down overhead at Raph, who ducks and rolls to one side and counters with a spinning kick. Leo avoids the spin kick to his head but in doing so brings his right arm up to block the kick but the kick was too strong for him and knocks his katana from his hand but was successful in knock Raph back a quick punch to his chest. Raph gets back up with both sai still in his hands and Leo charges at him and swings his katana down at Raph who blocks the attack with one of the twin sai, but forcefully swings his katana to one side and flung the sai away from Raph's hand. The sai flyies away and wizzes in between Mikey and Donnie who don't even blink even as it hits the wall behind them. The fight resumes and the two charge at each other for what would be the last time for this match, for as soon both weapons crashed into each other, Raph's greater strength won out as the clash forced Leo to drop his remaining katana and then Raph finishes him by grabbing his right arm and flinging him over his shoulder and Leo landed on his shell with a loud thud.

A grinning and victorious Raph stood above Leo with his sai back in his belt and his hands holding said belt, "Nice try." Said Raph and as soon as he said those words did a commanding voice speak out to the whole dojo, "Ya me!" the stop command was immediately obeyed as all four of the turtles scrambled to the middle of the dojo to kneel at the person who gave the command. The commanding voice belonged to the tall mutant rat. The rat in question wielding a jade walking stick/cane and wore a dark red robe that covered his arms and shoulders all the way down to his feet and his long tail could also be seen trailing behind him. The mutant rat had brown and black fur with streaks of white and a long white, thin and pointed beard. This tall mutant rat's name is Hamato Yoshi/ Splinter (though 'Master Splinter' is what the four turtles would refer to him), and he held the presence of a master martial artist and the skill of ten master combatants and the knowledge and wisdom of a sage.

As the four ninja turtles kneeled and bowed to their Master (father figure as well), Master Splinter complimented on their skill during their sparring matches, "You all did very well." Said Master Splinter and Raph was quick to add with, "But I did better!" Leo turned his head towards Raph with an expression as he thought _"Don't brag!"_

"This is about self-improvement Raphael, it is not about winning and/or losing." Said Master Splinter as he turned his head to face Raph.

"I know Master Splinter. But I won and they lost" bragged Raph and failed to notice as he bragged that Master Splinter was now directly behind him, but the other three noticed. And Master Splinter in response to Raph's remark gently pressed the tip his fingers into a pressure point in Raph's neck, causing a mix of slight pain and slight discomfort into Raph and completely changing his tone.

"OW! AH! AH! BUT WHATS REALLY IS THAT WE ALL DID OUR BEST! GOOD JOB EVERYONE!" Raph blurted out and the moment he finished, Master Splinter released his pressure point hold on Raph who had to use his hand to keep himself from falling forward. Master Splinter could only let out a slight chuckle at this.

The other three turtles would have also shared a quiet laugh amongst themselves were it not for the sudden loud rumbling noise and the slight shaking the entire home. Immediately, the four turtles stood with their Master who said the most obvious question that was everyone's minds, "Huh? What… is going on?" almost as soon as Master Splinter asked did the answer appear, and it was extremely unwelcome. The answer came in the form of a group of small robots using their triangular razor sharp teeth to eat through the walls and ceiling and into the dojo and simultaneously surround the five occupants of the dojo. The small robots had a small centre that had a pointed tail (few inches in length), large clawed feet (for humans it would be a foot size 8) and a large bulbous head with sharp, snapping jaws and yellow eyepiece on the top.

"What are those things?" said Leo and also drew his swords from his holsters and the other three followed his lead and drew their weapons as well.

"Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash! NGAH!" at the 'NGAH' sound, Raph leapt into the air and thrust one of his twin sai into the head of one of the metallic intruders, rendering it useless now, and soon the others followed suit. The five ninjas dashed across the dojo fighting any robot in their way, Leo used his twin katana to slice his robotic enemies in two, Raph continued stabbing his metal enemies until they stopped moving, Donnie and Master Splinter used their blunt weapons as golf clubs and baseball bats to smack their enemies away and into walls, whilst Mikey smashed and dented his enemies with his rabidly spinning nunchuckss.

But it became clear to the five ninjas that for every one robot they disabled, two more seemed to take its place as more of those small robots were entering their dojo through the holes in the walls and the ceiling and was also clear to Master Splinter that they were beginning to run out of room to fight, and so spoke out, "WE MUST LEAVE! NOW!" the four turtles immediately broke off from fighting their own enemies and then all five ninjas exited the dojo, thinking that they might have more space to fight in their much larger living room area. They were badly wrong. As soon as they exited the dojo, the five saw much to their horror that the small robots came as a small army, the army of small robots were eating through the walls and ceilings of every room in the Lair, from the kitchen to the entire living room and if could see through walls they would have seen that the robots were covering the whole makeshift laboratory and all of the bedrooms.

"Oh no! They're everywhere!" shouted Donnie and had to quickly smack another robot away from him with his staff as the robot was getting too close to his foot. The others had to do the same as well. This place had been their home for fifteen years but now it was looking like more of a warzone.

Suddenly the five could the abrupt sound of concrete cracking from above their heads and as soon as they looked up, the ceiling suddenly collapsed above their heads and down into the pit area that was their living room area, the debris crushed a few of the small robots and blocked the entrance to the laboratory.

"We have to evacuate! NOW!" Master Splinter ordered, but the four were reluctant to leave, Raph especially.

"But Sensei! This is OUR home! We have ta defend it and show those robotic knuckleheads whose boss!" Raph shouted, he absolutely hated the idea of running from a fight especially since they were being invaded.

"I understand how you feel, but we won't be able to save our entire home from these metallic monstrosities!" Master Splinter answered back and even though the four were reluctant to run away (Raph especially) they still followed Master Splinter out through the entrance/exit at the turnstiles for what would be the last time from their home (now completely ruined).

As they exited their home, the five ninjas saw that the small robots had littered the walls and ceilings of the abandoned railways and were eating through them and thus making the walls and ceilings unable to support themselves for very long. Seeing this, Master Splinter quickly ordered, "We don't have much time. Let us go! QUICKLY!" as soon as Master Splinter said this, the five ninjas made a mad dash across the abandoned railway that was now beginning to crack around them. They definitely did not have the time to fight the small they had come across as it would have taken precious seconds, seconds at which the railway might cave in on them, so instead they jumped over and dodged the robots they came across as they navigated their way through the abandoned railway that was very much like a maze. After living in the abandoned station for fifteen years, the five had often had to search the railways and the sewers for usable junk that could help make living a little easier and so new where they were in this railway maze. After successfully dodging the robots and running through to the end of the railway maze, the five mutant ninjas soon found themselves in a very old part of the New York City sewers that basically no-one else alive knew about. In this old part of the sewers, the five ninjas could see that the old sewer had very few of those small robots, and as they slowly wandered the sewer section, they smashed and disabled any small robot they could see before they destroyed the area.

Now with more room to breathe (so to speak), Mikey used the opportunity to blurt out everything that was on his mind, "DUDES! What the heck going on here?" Mikey shouted and as he did, the other four turned to face him, "What WERE those freaky robots? Why did they destroy our home and everything? Where are we going anyway? And-"before Mikey could shout anything else, Leo had sheathed his katana and moved in front of Mikey and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders to interrupt him, "Calm down Mikey! We've all got those same questions and fears right now. But right NOW we just need to follow Master Splinter to-"but this time Leo was interrupted by a very angry Raph, "WHAT?! No we DON'T! What WE need to do, is find whoever built those robots and SMASH HIS UGLY FACE IN!" in response, Donnie had sheathed his staff and raised his hands to Raph in order to try and calm him down, "Raph, please! We can't-"but Raph interrupted again, "Can't WHAT?! Fight our through a horde of destructive robots? WE just proved that we can!" but that statement was only half true and they all knew it, at this time it was Splinter who interrupted the beginning of the argument by stabbing one end of his cane to the ground and shouted "ENOUGH!" the sound of the cane stabbing the ground reverberated throughout the whole section of the sewer section and made all four ninja turtles stop and stand to attention.

"What we need to do now is find a new place to hide and call our new home for us to plan ahead. And also, as I have said plenty of times before Raphael, the first rule of being a ninja is 'Do no harm. Unless you have to do harm, then do lots of harm!' Or in other words, we do not seek out a fight unless it is absolutely necessary." Master Splinter said, and even though the four listened it was only Raph that didn't get the full meaning of his sensei's words.

"But sensei! Those THINGS destroyed our home!" said a very upset Raph and this time it was Leo who stood next to him in order to reason with his hot-headed brother,

"Raph, Master Splinter is right. Given the size of New York, it could very well have been a coincidence that those robots appeared in our home when they did." Said Leo but Raph did not take that lying down and argued,

"Leo, they didn't just destroy our home, they also destroyed quite possibly all of the abandoned railways too! Are you telling me that that was just a 'coincidence' as well?" Raph argued but Leo immediately answered back,

"Perhaps Raph, but even if you're right and we needed to find whoever did this, we still have nothing to go on and no way to know who could have built them!" said Leo and was about to argue again but at Leo's statement, didn't know how to answer back, and reluctantly gave Leo the win in this argument by staying silent. Seeing the argument had dissipated, Master Splinter had turned back around in the direction that they were going in and said,

"Come my sons, we must keep moving." Master Splinter walked ahead as he said this but the four didn't follow until seconds later, that by the time they did begin to follow that Master Splinter was way ahead of them but not out of sight.

But then more bad news arrived at the sound and feeling of more rumbling above they heads which got louder almost immediately and the ceiling began to crack and crumble away, "Guys, look out!" Leo shouted and as he did, the ceiling caved in with an unfair crash all around the four ninjas and created a small cloud of dust in the now small area the four were in. When the dust settled, the four ninja turtles found themselves surrounded by heavy debris that not only stopped them from going back the way they came from but also separated them from Master Splinter who was slightly ahead them, and upon seeing the rumble cave in at his sons, Master Splinter rushed to the debris and hoped to whatever god that his sons were alright.

"My sons! Boys! Are you hurt? Are you alright? Answer me!" Master Splinter said through the rubble and debris and hoped his sons were not hurt and could hear him. To his relief, Donnie answered through the debris moments later,

"Sensei! We're good. We're okay!" said Donnie but as he looked around, he saw that his brothers were fine as well, except now the debris had stopped them from going anywhere except for the large hole in the ceiling where the rubble was before it collapsed. "Except now the only way out for us is up through the hole in the ceiling!" Donnie said through the rubble.

"Alright my sons. If you four are to progress to the upper level, then our two paths should eventually cross at an old drainage junction near South Point." Master Splinter said and Donnie and the others understood.

"They should cross if we keep going in a straight line without turning." Donnie explained.

"We'll meet you there Sensei." Said Leo and with that, the four turtle ninjas climbed up the debris to the upper level of the abandoned sewer.

When they reached the top to the next section in the sewer, the four took a moment to look around; behind them besides the large hole in the ground was a large stone wall that blocked from going back and it meant that the only way to go now is straight forward. Before they could progress however, Mikey took the opportunity to burst out some of his excitement, "DUDES, this is so cool!" the other three turned to face Mikey as if he had grown a second head and it was Raph who spoke out to answer first,

"What about this makes you think that this is 'so cool'?" as Raph said the words 'so cool', he lowered his voice in mocking tone and even though Mikey knew about the mocking tone, he didn't care at the moment.

"Because dude, this is like our first adventure together! I mean sure we could have done without the killer robots but still!" said Mikey but Raph then crossed his arms across his chest.

"Oh sure… it would be 'so cool' if we had a home to go back to." Raph's statement had abruptly knocked the wind out of all their sails including his own but then Mikey piped up.

"C'mon dude! There are a lot of abandoned places large enough to call a new home! We're bound to find one at some point!" Mikey said and this time it was Leo spoke next.

"C'mon guys, we need to move on now. We will find a new place to call home when we rendezvous with Master Splinter. So let's go." Leo said and as soon as he did, the four turtles turned to progress forward. The only direction they could go for now.

After a few minutes of walking and silence, the four turtle brothers now had a problem. Those small robots had done more damage to the sewers than they initially thought, as was evident that the way forward had now been blocked by a large hill of heavy debris that looked as though it wasn't going to be moved anytime soon.

"Great… can't go forward, can't go back! What are we supposed to do now?" Raph said and fortunately for them, Mikey had spotted a ladder a moment ago but rather than use the ladder and see where it went, Leo reminded him that they had to go in straight line if they were to rendezvous with Master Splinter. Until now that was.

"Well Mikey, it looks like you'll get your wish after all…" Mikey beamed as Leo said those words.

"Awesome! We're lost already! This just makes our first adventure more… um… more… well I don't know what the word is!" Mikey said although the word he was struggling to find was most likely 'adventurous' and the other three ended up face-palming at Mikey's lack of brain use.

As the four turtles turned back to approach the ladder going up, Donnie was the first to voice his concerns,

"Er… Leo… if I'm right, then this ladder will take us to working seer sections. In other words, there may be maintenance workers above…" Donnie said but Raph didn't seem to take notice as he was already on the ladder and climbing up.

"Raph wait! We need to stick together!" Leo said but Raph just argued back.

"So? Then come on! The only way forward now is up there." Raph said and then Mikey proceeded to follow him up the ladder with Donnie following once there was space on the ladder and finally Leo who was just a tad reluctant.

The four had not expected the ladder's exit/entrance to be sealed off, but that didn't deter Raph. He stubbornly pushed against the apparently heavy cover but Raph wasn't going to let a piece of metal stop him, he pushed with as much might as he could without losing his grip or his balance on the ladder. The other three were about to turn back down the ladder but then the screeching sound of metal moving could all four of their ears (even though nobody could see them), and eventually Raph was able to push the very heavy seal up and over the exit and then all four climbed up and into the next section of the new working sewers.

Donnie had taken a moment to examine the seal, although he didn't doubt Raph's incredible physical strength, he knew that even a big and bulky bodybuilder would have had trouble moving that seal. But after examining the edges he had voiced his conclusion to Raph and the other two who were listening,

"Hey Raph, it's a good thing that seal was rotting around the edges. That's why you were able to move it. Otherwise even an explosion wouldn't have budged it." Said Donnie and then the four proceeded onwards.

"Okay guys, we stick to the shadows here. There could be humans working in these part of the sewers. And also we find another that goes down not up again." Said Leo and then the four went on to explore.

After a few more minutes of exploring for a way back down, it became apparent that thanks to the bars and walls of the working sewers meant that the four were walking in circles and always finding themselves back to the same seal that they had come from.

"Guys, we're only going in circles now." Leo said as he was now getting a bit annoyed at their predicament. But Mikey just let out a gasp of excitement.

"You know what this means right?" Mikey asked and the other three turned to him expecting something dumb for him say but what Mikey had said next was surprising to say the least,

"We need to go up to surface now! Isn't that awesome?!" as soon as Mikey said this Leo retorted,

"WHAT? No! No! Master Splinter was very clear time and again that we cannot be seen on the surface!" Leo said as his face looked a bit more annoyed than usual.

"But Leo!" but before Mikey could say anything else, Donnie and Raph had already moved to support Mikey's suggestion much to both Mikey's and Leo's surprise,

"Leo I hate to say it but Mikey's right." Said Donnie and then Raph had added, "Leo, I don't really wanna agree with Mikey on anything, but I don't see any way forward other than up to the surface." Said Raph and after a minute of silence and quiet thinking, Leo reluctantly agreed.

"Okay fine. But I stress that we cannot be seen at all! We stick to the shadows and make our way to the drainage junction near South Point. No detours." As Leo said this, the other three whooped and jumped up in excitement. Leo however was dreading when they would have to tell Master Splinter about this, _"Master Splinter is so going to kill us!"_ Leo quietly thought to himself but then proceeded with his brothers to the next ladder with a manhole cover on top (only took a few seconds to find and get to).

This was definitely the next step forwards in their first adventure and even though three of the four turtles were smiling and not hiding their excitement, Leo had to agree that he was a little excited too.

* * *

 **Me: Hello Readers. I hope you liked the beginning! I felt like I needed to give the turtles a push onto the surface, but I am sorry I destroyed their 2012 version of home so please don't hate me too much, it does help push my story forward and next chapter sees a clash of the first episodes of both cartoon series.**


	2. Drastic Change (part 2)

**Me: Chapter 2! Start!**

* * *

April 21st, 8:23pm, New York City.

After a routine training exercise turned into a home invasion by small killer robots and running for their lives as their home collapsed around them, then escaping the through the abandoned railways as it also was falling apart around them, dodging the same small army of killer robots that were responsible for it, then getting lost in the sewers due to the tunnels also collapsing and cutting them of from their Master Splinter and then rising from the sewers up to the surface, you would have thought that an incident like that would've taken… a few hours (give or take), but no. This all occurred in under one hour (thirty-nine minutes to be precise).

Here they stood. Four mutant turtles with ninja training arising from the sewers into a dark New York City alley that was covered with graffiti on the walls, over-filled dumpsters and strewn out rubbish. The alley however was surrounded by so many buildings that some were alight and made everything seem alive. The four turtles had never seen anything like it before and so far this dark and dingy alley was the most beautiful thing about New York. So far.

"Woah… this place is so beautiful…" Mikey was the first to voice his thoughts and although they the other three probably did or didn't agree with him, they also had to admit that seeing the surface for the first time was an experience that none of them would soon forget. Though after about a minute or so, it was time to go as they still had to rendezvous with Master Splinter. South Point was quite a distance in the sewers but now they had to get there in the big city without being seen at all.

"Okay guys, that's enough ogling. We need to get going. Remember what Master Splinter said? It's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured!" Leo said but his tone of voice made sound like a command.

"We got it Leo. And we always do when Splinter says it over and over again. Let's just go already!" Raph said and did his best to not sound annoyed… but the annoyance was still in his voice.

However the next thing the four knew was that a trio of humans (two female and one male), were casually walking and laughing with each other as they passed the alley the four turtles were in. Not allowing themselves to be seen, the four did their best to hide in the alley; Donnie and Leo sunk into the shadows being a dumpster, Mikey had hidden himself back into the sewer entrance while Raph had leapt into the shadows of the fire escape above where he initially stood. From his new point of view, Raph had spotted another manhole cover sewer entrance in another alley across the street.

"Found one." Raph said and then immediately jumped from the fire escape to on top of a nearby lamppost, high above the ground and the light it shone was on the ground, plus the night sky had easily covered him in darkness so he wouldn't be seen unless someone looked really carefully. Raph made another huge leap from the lamppost onto the top of a parked blue car on the other side of the street and then quickly ducked into the darkness of the alley behind it. Only his other three brothers knew he was there. But before any of them could move, a door slammed open from inside the alley that Raph was in, and followed by a group of male voices, and going by the looks and sounds of things, they had just finished robbing the building they were in as they were carrying bags of what was most likely stolen loot.

"Heh! Talk about an easy way to live!"

"Yeah who knew robbing could be so easy and the pay is great too!"

""Hahaha! Didja get a good look a dat one guy? What is he? The manager or something? He looked like he was gonna pee himself! Hahaha!"

"Man I should brought my camera with me!"

"Hey ya can bring it next time around! No-one is gonna stop us from havin' a little fun!"

Raph looked as though he wanted to fight those thugs, but then caught sight of Leo from across the street in the other alley who waved his hand down at him, obviously motioning him to stay down. Raph followed his reasoning and obeyed Leo's order with silent moaning as his thoughts of it. Even with their training in stealth and fighting, and though they could easily take down a group of lowlife criminals using only stealth and surprise attacks, the truth of the matter was that robberies like this were constantly happening in New York and it wouldn't be worth it since the local police would most likely catch them one way or another. The thugs made their way to their getaway car, which just so happened to be the one that Raph had jumped onto. The thugs piled their ill-gotten gains into the boot of their car (most likely also stolen), then they piled into the driver and passengers seats. One of the thugs in the back seat then held up something else he was carrying all the while he was walking with the others; a small square shaped box.

"I bet that guy won't mind that we took his pizza as well!"

"Good pay and a pizza?"

"Talk about a good night!"

One of the thugs who sat next to the one holding the pizza box reached over to grab a slice but in doing so made the holder clumsily drop it out the window.

"Shit!"

"Never mind, let's just go!"

"Yeah, we can grab some other guys dinner anyway!"

It was then that the thugs began quickly speeding away, unknowingly leaving behind the lone occupant of the alley.

At the moment that they left, the other three turtles leapt from the shadows of the alley to join Raph currently in the other.

"Guys, I don't think we're going to see Master Splinter any quicker by hiding in the shadows constantly having to avoid humans. If anything, I'd say we were making slower progress than if we weren't cut off in the sewers." Donnie said and he was right. The four turtles had only been up on the surface for more or less five minutes and already they had to hide twice. It was then that Leo suddenly thought of something as he looked up, something that would no doubt be enjoyable and get them to their destination much more quickly.

"We can make better progress if we jump from rooftop to rooftop-"Leo never got the chance to finish what he was going to say as Mikey was already beaming with excitement and anticipation.

"Awesomly-radical bro!" Mikey shouted as he looked up at Leo's idea and then Raph and Donnie looked up to the rooftops and for the first time so far, Raph liked Leo's orders. As they were about to leap to the rooftops, Mikey decided to stop and grab the abandoned pizza box.

8:29pm

Just as Leo, Raph and Donnie reached the first rooftop, they realized that Mikey was lagging slightly. And with apparently good reason. The moment he showed up, the other three saw what he was carrying.

"Guy's look what I found!" Mikey said as he walked other to his waiting brothers.

"Mikey, we don't steal other people stuff. Even if we find it lying about." Leo lectured.

"Plus, we don't know what that is." Donnie said and at that the four turtles looked down at the box in Mikey's hands. Mikey looked at the word written on the box and read it out loud.

"Piz-za…?" Mikey said as he failed to pronounce it correctly. And went to open the box.

"Careful Mikey! It could be dangerous." Leo said and Raph could only shake his head slightly at that comment on the pizza box. But Mikey seemed to ignore Leo's words and opened the box. As soon as he did, the smell of the pizza reached their noses, they had never smelled anything like it, but to Donnie's mind it registered the smell as food,

"I think it's… food." Said Donnie as he processed the information,

It's not like any food I ever saw." Raph said.

"I'll try it." Mikey announced. He then takes one of the slices of pizza and gives a quick smell before tentatively taking a bite out of it. The moment it hit his taste-buds, his face light up like a firework and his mind lit up like one as well, he had never tasted anything so delicious, he then devoured the remaining slice with a big grin on his face. Then moment he swallowed, he looked at his brothers who saw his reaction,

"Uh… yuck… you guys won't like it. I'll take the rest!" Mikey's lie was obvious but all the other three cared about was getting some good food and began scrambling to get a slice,

"No way!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Back off!"

The four turtles then began taking and devouring whatever slices they could get their hands on. And they weren't disappointed, the taste was so great they wouldn't stop smiling as they devoured the whole pizza.

"I never thought I would taste anything other than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" Raph declared.

"I LOVE IT UP HERE!" Mikey shouted out and the others agreed with that statement.

8:30pm

If you weren't pay attention to anything, especially the rooftops and night, then there would be no way you would hear the distance noise coming Mikey's mouth as he jumped excitedly from rooftop to rooftop,

"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey shouted out the top of his lungs and the others wandered if all of New York could hear him.

"Mikey! Quiet! We're ninjas! When ninjas move, they are supposed to be silent!" Leo scolded at Mikey but Mikey didn't seem to care as he was having way too much fun using improvised parkour/ ninja jumping techniques to move from building to building. He wasn't alone in this as the only one concentrating on what they were having to do was Leo. Raph and Donnie silently admitted to themselves that this was fun and that all four should this more often.

8:38pm

In the middle of New York, the four ninja turtles suddenly skidded to a stop on another random rooftop to take in the city skyline. The skyline was amazing at night-time and with no humans looking up, even Leo admitted that he could definitely do this again with his brothers. But then the reason why they were up on the rooftops came back to him and said,

"Alright guys, we should moving on. Master Splinter is probably already waiting for us." Leo said, and the others groaned in disappointment. Even though their destination was still somewhere on the other side of the city and that they could probably have fun getting there, Leo made it sound like they had get there now like tomorrow would not wait for them. It was at that moment that something moved out of the corner on Donnie's line of sight and looked down to the ground below.

"Guys, look at that!" Donnie said as he pointed to what he was looking towards and the others caught sight of what it was that caught Donnie's eye.

Down below on the pedestrian path below and possibly walking on their way home were what appeared to be a young teenage girl with red hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a purple tank-top, beige jeans and black and white trainers. Walking next to her was a much older looking man (possibly the girl's father). He also had red hair, though he was going bald and he wore brown jeans, smart shoes, and a brown jacket with a white shirt underneath.

However it was the young girl that Donnie suddenly found himself smitten with. He stared at her with hearts in his eyes and his actual heart beating faster against his plastron.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…!" Donnie said almost without thinking.

"Isn't she the… _only_ girl you've ever seen?" Raph said which almost knocked the wind out of Donnie's sails, but it did bring Donnie back to the realization that he was standing next to his three brothers and then turned his head to Raph.

"My point still stands." Donnie said as he looks away from Raph but also not looking at the girl as well. That was until the sound of screeching tires suddenly reached their ears and down below as the man and the young girl turned to face the sound, a van suddenly pulled up in front of them at the corner of the road they were about to cross.

"What?" said the man and then suddenly the vans back doors opened to reveal four men steeping out of the van and all four men looked exactly alike and wearing matching suits. The men approached the man and the girl, the latter of which hid behind the man next to her looking a bit fearful.

"What is this?" said the man as he too looked slightly fearful, but the four men that approached the two looked nonchalant and robotic, like they had no care at all.

"We gotta save them!" Donnie suddenly said from the rooftop and was about to leap from the rooftop when Leo grabbed his shoulder to hold him back.

"Splinter's instructions were very clear, we're supposed to stay away from people." Said Leo but Raph turned to face him.

"What? Robberies are one thing Leo. But kidnapping can turn ugly real quick!" said Raph but if he was honest, he just wanted to fight those goons.

"But we still-"but before Leo could say anything else, Donnie broke free of Leo's grip.

"Well I'm going!" and with that, Donnie leapt from the building to the ground below.

"Wait!" Leo said but it was too late and then Raph and Mikey suddenly leapt from the rooftop to join Donnie in an upcoming fight followed by a reluctant Leo.

Things were quickly going bad for the man and the young girl. The man was easily overpowered and knocked unconscious by one of the kidnappers and was uncaringly thrown into the back of the van. This left the young girl to fend for herself (albeit very poorly) against the kidnappers. As the kidnapper who just threw the man into the back of their van, he turned to where the other kidnappers were approaching the young girl but then,

"HEY!" Raph said and the kidnapper turned behind him to face the source of the sound. Only to be greeted by a punch to the chest and stumbled back. The kidnapper simply stood up straight after the punch and going by his face, it looked as though the punch had no effect at all.

"Oh, still standing huh? I'll fix that!" Raph said whilst also raising his twin sai from his belt. But it was also at that moment that Leo accidently backed into Raph's side trying to fight another one of the kidnappers.

"Watch it!" said Leo, most likely not paying attention to a standing Raph.

"YOU watch it!" Raph said back. This kind of set the tone for the rest of the fight… Leo's opponent then threw a punch towards him and Leo jumped up onto the kidnapper's shoulders and leapfrogged over him, and then Raph had to jump back to dodge as his opponent slammed his fist on the ground where Raph had been standing which smashed a piece of the road. This was definitely not normal human strength especially since the kidnappers didn't even look that strong. The kidnapper looks up to Raph and launched another punch at which Raph managed to block and then backflip away. When he landed on his feet, Donnie who was fighting another one of the kidnappers had accidently backed into Raph trying to fight his one opponent.

"Watch it, Donnie!" Raph said, Donnie then took a quick glance behind at Raph but then had to raise his staff to block his opponent's punch that as aimed at his head. He blocks the attack and counters by smacking his opponent's ribs and then his head with his staff, Donnie then stepped to the side and spins his staff ready to attack again. Donnie thrust his staff forwards and struck his opponent's midsection.

Mikey flips away to dodge his opponent's attack whilst sppining his nunchaku ready to strike, he swings his weapon to the side intending to attack but unbeknownst to Mikey, Raph was behind him fighting one of the kidnapper's and his weapon got caught in Raph's sai who then quickly ducked and rooled away as his opponent very nearly struck Raph.

Leo at that point had ducked and rolled out of the way as his opponent's attack missed, Leo raised his twin katana to attack but then inadvertently blocked Donnie's staff as he was fighting his own fight. Leo and Donnie quickly broke off and back to theor own respective opponents. Leo thrust his twin katana forward at one of the kidnappers but at that point Raph suddenly jumped down from wherever he was and Leo accidently hit Raph's shell with the swords. Thank goodness their shells are strong otherwise Raph would have been skewered.

"What the-"but Raph was cut off as the kidnapper slammed his fist against the side of Raph's head as it turned behind him and was sent flying off to the side. (Teamwork was definitely an issue here).

Raph recovered quickly and got back on his feet and just in time as he stepped and dodged to the side but as one of the four kidnappers launched a punch at Raph who then counters by trying flip his opponent other his shoulder (he really did try) but the kidnapper didn't even budge.

"OH, come on!" as Raph said this he tried again to throw his opponent over his shoulder with the same results except this time the kidnapper punched him hard and sent him flying across the road.

At that moment Leo had to jump away from his opponent's attacks several times, at the last dodge, Leo just noticed another one of the kidnapper's behind him and counter his attack by throwing a jump kick to his face then as his other opponent ran towards him, still in the air he kicked the other kidnapper's jaw, but he either didn't hit the former hard enough or he was tougher than he looked as he was unable to block the kidnapper's next punch and like Raph was sent flying across the street.

At that moment Donnie then heard the girl had started screaming as one of the kidnapper's had got a hold of her and carried her over his shoulder and walked toward the van. She kicked and flailed any she could but she could not break free of her kidnapper's hold. Fortunately Donnie had managed to gain the upper hand on his opponent and turned and threw his staff at the girl's kidnapper. The staff connects and the kidnapper stumbles forward as well as accidently realising the girl. She was sent flying up a bit but Donnie rushed forward and caught her in his arms.

"Gotcha!" Donnie exclaimed as he caught her. Not seeing a human this close before he gave the girl a smile but when she looked up to her would be rescuer, she screamed. Donnie also screamed in response to this and ended up dropping her. The girl crawls backwards to get away from him and Donnie tries to calm her,

"No, no, no, don't worry, we're the good guys!" Donnie said in an attempt to calm her but she just screams again. She had never seen someone or something like Donnie ever, she knew aliens exited somewhere but never thought she would come face to face with one. And it scared her.

"It's okay." Donnie said again in an attempt to reassure her, but when she turned to run away from him, she saw two of her kidnappers approach her. She didn't know what was scarier at that moment; the kidnappers who would do who knows what if they got to her or the alien whom she had no idea about. Taking a chance, Donnie held his hand out to her to help her up as turned nervously turned to face him. Not liking the idea of being kidnapped, she tentatively raised her hand to take his. But at that moment, she flinched when Mikey suddenly jumped behind him and accidently hit him over the head with his nunchaku. Dazed for a second before recovering, Donnie turned to his brother, and forgot about the girl for a moment,

"Whoops! Sorry!" Mikey said but then one of the kidnappers launched a kick at Donnie,

"Watch out!" Mikey said as he pointed to the attacker, but Donnie was too slow to react and the kick connected to his plastron and was sent flying into Mikey and the two flew across the street and crashed into a bin on the pathway.

Donnie recovered quickly as the kidnappers then succeeded in hauling the girl into the back of the van, bound and gagged with the unconscious man. The kidnappers quickly climbed into the van and started the engine and drove away, leaving the four ninja turtles alone on the street.

"They're getting away! They got the girl!" said exclaimed as the van drove away, and the four turtles gave chase to the van on foot. But not before Raph complained getting hit by Leo.

"You just jabbed me with your sword!"

"Well I didn't know you were going to land where I was stabbing!"

The four ran as fast as they could in the direction that the van had driven off too, but the moment it turned a corner, it was out of sight. Even more so when they turned the same corner only to find that the van had now vanished, most likely driven off into another direction in which the turtles did not know where to start looking for.

"Well that could've gone better…" said Mikey, a little downcast.

"BETTER!? Mikey you almost hit me with yer chuks!" Raph bellowed but before he could say anything else, Leo intervened with the elephant in the room,

"Guys you do realise that when we see Master Splinter again, he will most likely ground us for life…" Leo said and the other three looked like they wished THEY had gotten kidnapped along with the girl or anything else to avoid Master Splinter's ire and disappointed. They knew lying would do no good as Master Splinter would know instantly. With that they decided to face the music and resumed in the direction of South Point and Master Splinter.

8:20pm, New York City Sewers.

Master Splinter didn't know what was worse; having his home destroyed by a small army of small biting and gnashing robots or being separated from his four sons by heavy debris with the knowledge that they might get hurt or do something incredibly stupid like revealing themselves to a random person. But nonetheless, as Splinter and his separated family parted ways to rendezvous at Splinter's suggested destination, Splinter quietly walked down the sewer tunnel. As he walked, his mind wouldn't stop fretting about his son's safety or the decisions they would make on their own. Circumstances required this however and Splinter had hoped to whatever higher being that everything was going to be alright after this and that they could go back to how they were before this event happened and that maybe his sons can go to the surface with the proper training that Splinter had planned for them.

8:27pm.

Walking through the empty sewers with no distractions or otherwise had allowed Master Splinter to reach his destination at the drainage junction near South Point relatively easily. Now he just had to wait for his sons. Splinter let out a sigh as he began to relax a bit, but the moment he did, he was immediately on guard as the drainage junction suddenly shook and as before, several of those nasty small robot chewed threw the walls and the floor this time and surrounded Master Splinter. Splinter narrowed his eyes ready to fight these robots. The robots attacked with their gnashing jaws but Splinter was too fast for them as with each swing of his jade cane, the robots were being smashed one by one. One could call this an easy warm-up for the ninja master as within a minute all the small robot were broken and disabled.

Master Splinter was about breathe a sigh of quiet victory (he doesn't gloat) but it was quickly turned into a scram of surprise as the floor beneath his feet suddenly fell apart and gave way to gravity which also took Master Splinter down with the falling rubble.

The fall didn't last very long, mainly because he was falling so fast, the fall would've probably killed him had the hole he was falling in not turned into a slide of sorts. Master Splinter still screamed a bit as he slid down the hole but it stopped when he stopped sliding down the hole and exited into a part of the underground sewer he did not recognize. Taking a moment to take in his new surroundings, Master Splinter realized that the area he was in had been long since abandoned if the cobwebs were any indication. What had caught his eye most however was hexagon shaped opening that stood just few feet away from where he stood. As he looked beyond however, he was amazed at what he saw.

" _Amazing! This will save us the trouble of finding a new home!"_ Splinter thought to himself. After a moment or so to take in his new surroundings, he realized it was most likely about time for his sons to arrive at the drainage junction.

As he turned however he realized he would get lost if he tried to find his way back to the drainage junction and while he could find his way back eventually, he knew he did not have the time for getting lost now. So he stopped himself at the hole he fell through and using his abilities as a rat, Master Splinter began to climb up the hole.

8:30pm

Being a master of ninjitsu, Master Splinter easily managed to climb to the top of the hole and was unsurprised to see the remains of the small robots littering the ground. As he stood properly on the ground, he had now wandered,

" _Shouldn't my sons have arrived by now?"_

8:37pm.

Master Splinter was definitely going to get his sons to tell him why they took so long. He was waiting for seven minutes now, but those moments seemed to last for hours as he worried for them.

Suddenly the sound of a gate rattling and opening became apparent and for a moment, Master Splinter wandered if some more unwanted company was coming in his direction, but was immediately relieved when the sound of his four sons were heard in that direction also,

"Hey, is this really the way, D?"

"Absolutely, this way should lead us to the drainage junction, and we just passed South Point so we are a hundred percent going in the right direction."

"If we get lost Donnie, I swear I will beat the green of you!"

"Hey c'mon Raph, we haven't even gotten lost yet."

As the four continued to walk forward, it became apparent that they hadn't gotten lost at all as they almost immediately caught sight of Master Splinter waiting for them. The turtles smiled from ear to ear as they ran towards him

"Sensei!"

"Alright!"

"Haha, yeah!"

"Booyakasha!"

Master Splinter was also relived to see to sons again.

"Yes, well. It is also good to see you again, my sons." Master Splinter said but then Leo had to bring a bit of forlorn words in.

"Master… somethings… er… happened and… uh…" Leo tried to explain but Splinter cut him off as he frowned at Leo's words.

"I see. There will be time explain what has happened. But for now, let us go home." Master Splinter said as he turned to walk towards the hole in the ground.

"Home?" said Mikey as he was a little confused.

"We got no home." Raph said as he now took note of the destroyed robots littering the ground as did the other three turtles. Raph crouched next to one of the ruined robots, "Those robots trashed our home. Remember Sensei?" Raph said and then Master Splinter turned his head to him,

"Do not worry, I believe I have found a solution to our… current housing affair. Follow me, my sons." And with that, Master Splinter jumped down the hole in the ground. Even though the others looked a little confused, they also did not doubt their sensei. Leo was the first to jump down the hole, followed shortly by Donnie. Then before in himself, Mikey decided to say,

"BOOYAK- Waaaagh!" before Mikey could say the rest of 'booyakasha', Raph had shoved him into the hole and then let out a laugh.

"NOT FUNNY RAPH!" Mikey shouted so Raph could hear him as he fell through the hole.

"Oh yes it is!" Raph said before diving into the hole himself.

To say that the turtles exit from the hole was less than graceful was an understatement. Splinter had exited with ease and stood up straight and simply stepped aside where his sons would undoubtedly land in a pile of tangled limbs. He wasn't wrong. The moment Leo exited first, he too stood up straight… and then got accidently tackled from behind by Donnie, knocking him off his feet and on top of Donnie, followed by Mikey slamming into the two of them and shortly followed by Raph to complete the turtle hill and the complete mess of limbs sticking out of the pile.

" _Points for landing: minus four!"_ Master Splinter thought to himself as he withheld a snicker. Once the turtles (eventually) untangled themselves, Master Splinter then led them through the corridor to the hexagon shaped archway and beyond.

The sight was amazing! The room beyond the doorway was huge, easily the size of a small mansion. The room was a huge egg-like shape all covered in stone of different colours (mainly light green, orange and light brown), the centre contained a large pool of sorts with an old bridge going over it, and there was also an upper floor in the shape of a long balcony with unused rooms of various sizes and also along the lower floor had various sized rooms along its walls. All four turtles gasped with awe and amazement as they took in their new surroundings.

"This is beyond awesome!"

"I could really tune this space up!"

Mikey wasted no time and jumped to the upper floor/ balcony and pointed to one of the unused rooms,

"This room here: MINE!" Mikey said making it clear that the room in question was his.

"You see my sons: change can be good." Master Splinter said and Leo was more than happy to support his words,

"We couldn't agree more Master Splinter!" Leo said as he smiled.

"Yes. And while we are on the subject of change… mind telling me happened when you went above ground?" Master Splinter's voice suddenly went stern and then the smile on Leo was suddenly wiped off his face as well as his brothers.

One thing for certain was this: Master Splinter was definitely not going to like what their story concluded in.

* * *

 **Me: Hey there! Hope you liked April's first appearance. I decided to give her her 2003 outfit since I think it was a better outfit for someone like her and I also liked the 2003 version of the Lair better than the 2012 version. But these are only my opinions, let me know what you guys think.**


	3. Drastic Change (part 3)

**Me: Hello viewers! Just so know, this chapter is a version of how think could be different without Snake being in the picture. If you were mad about not seeing Snake, don't worry he will be in the story and inevitably as Snakeweed. But he is going to have a different back-round. Anyway hope you like!**

* * *

8:57pm, New York City- The New Lair.

To say that Master Splinter was not pleased was an understatement, he still did his best to keep himself level headed. Even so, the four turtles who kneeled in place on the hard concrete floor still found themselves nervous at the stern voice of their sensei.

"So… you kept hidden in the darkness for one incident only to reveal yourselves in the next, failed to look out for each other during a fight… and so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away!" Master Splinter surmised, and well… he wasn't wrong, that was pretty much the gist of it.

"Well maybe if I didn't have to waste time arguing with 'hero boy' here, I could've saved them!" Raph said as was annoyed with the results of tonight and referring to Leo as the 'hero boy'.

"Hey if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could've done it!" Leo said in retaliation and then turned to Donnie,

"And you went flying off on your own! How smart was that?" Leo said who was annoyed at his decision to do what he did. Donnie faced Leo in response,

"Well it would've worked out great-"Donnie then turned his attention to Mikey, "-if SOMEBODY hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchakus!" Donnie said who blamed Mikey for that whack on his head. Mikey was next to voice his irritation,

"Well, none of this would've happened if-"he turned his head to point the blame at someone else like his brother's did with each other, only to find no-one to do so, and so turned back to his brothers, "-someone hadn't destroyed our old home with those robot thingys!"

At the mention of those robotic destroyers, the other three turtles could only agree, up to a point at least,

"When I find out who sent those robots, I'm going to turn them into my new punching bag!" Raph growled.

"Hey, that doesn't excuse how bad things got afterwards!" Leo voiced out.

Donnie was about to add something to their bickering when…

"ENOUGH!" Master Splinter shouted as he stomped his cane onto the ground, the sound reverberated along the entire room like it did in the sewer tunnels a while ago and with the same results: the four turtles stopped their bickering and pointing fingers at each other and immediately stood to attention.

"It is clear that you were not prepared for what was on the surface and what dangers lie in waiting there. I had planned to bestow upon you the training to work together as a team and not as individuals like I have done for the past fifteen years. Perhaps training in teamwork for about a year will help in this and we can try again." Master Splinter said calmly but the four turtles looked as if he told them that he was dying. Donnie especially was more distraught with this and said,

"A year!? H-has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped? They don't have a year!" Donnie exclaimed, Splinter then turned to him looking for him to say more on this, then Donnie made direct eye contact with him,

"You weren't there sensei. You didn't see how that girl looked at me. She was scared, and she was counting on me-"Donnie had corrected himself right away at this as his brother's looked at him, "-u-us, to save her!" Donnie finished and then all four turtles looked at Master Splinter, hoping for the chance to do something right about the mess they found.

Splinter took a moment to think about what Donnie had said and also his sons' silent request; _"Let us go to the rescue!"_ Master Splinter then recalled a memory from a long time ago; a time when his loved ones were counting on him and he failed. He did not want his sons to experience that kind of failure.

"Yes…" Master Splinter finally relinquished, "You must save her." Splinter said as though it was an order and a mission to be accomplished and even though the four turtles were delighted with his decision to let them go on this mission, Leo had felt the need to deflate the other's keenness just a bit,

"I agree sensei, but in that fight… we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine…" Leo was rather sheepish as he said this and it also made his brothers a bit downcast at the reminder of their… _"…inability to work together…"_ as Master Splinter said a few moments ago.

Splinter then grabbed a hold and stroked his beard a few times to contemplate his next move for them to make their next move and then when he stopped stroking his beard, he came to a conclusion,

"A training session is in order then. We will have around one hour to train you to fight as a team. Less if you can prove to me that you can fight as such." Master Splinter said, and although the turtles were a little pressed for time, they still found it within themselves to groan at the thought of a training session so soon (except for Leo).

"Aaaaawwww… but senseeeeiiii!" Mikey complained first and was quickly shut down by Splinter,

"This is not up for discussion! Now stand ready, for I will not be as lenient as I have been before!" Master Splinter said in a tone that suggested that he was definitely not messing around.

"'Not as lenient as before'?" Raph said as he gobsmacked. He wasn't the only one though.

"Dude, he was brutal in our training before! I don't wanna be battered any more than before!" Mikey complained and he was right, Master Splinter was very strict about their individual training beforehand. The very thought that he was simply being lenient at that training, Mikey and Donnie shuddered to think how Splinter was train them whilst not being lenient. Donnie when he heard the words 'not as lenient as before', he gulped and shrank at the thought of what was in store for them.

Leo meanwhile felt more than ready. He knew that training like this was going to come up eventually. He felt prepared.

10:01pm…

The training was not as brutal as they initially thought, though they quickly realized that Master Splinter was more strict in his approach; he would shout and then lecture whenever help was not given to a downed turtle, again if an argument was about to start. All in the space of just over an hour. However overall, the four turtles learned more about how to work together with their individual skill sets, and if Leo could rate the results of their training, then he could say it was an improvement over the events of the kidnapping. Not perfect but definitely better.

And so Master Splinter deemed them worthy as a team and had them stand to attention at the entrance of their new home. The scene very much resembled four cadets standing to attention at the orders of a captain. However, Master Splinter acted less like a captain or ninja sensei and more like a father giving some last minute advice to his children.

"You are going back to a strange and hostile world. You much maintain awareness at all times." Splinter said.

"Hai, Sensei!" the four responded and were about to turn to the entrance when,

"Stay in the shadows!" Splinter quickly said before they turned completely as he raised his finger, and then lowered when he was done talking.

"Hai, Sensei!" the four turtles responded as they stood back to attention and then once again turned to the entrance when,

"Don't talk to strangers… again!" Splinter quickly said as he raised the same finger before they turned to the entrance and they turned their heads at his new advice, and then lowered his finger,

"Hai, Sensei!" the four turtles repeated and then turned completely to the entrance when,

"Everyone is a stranger!" Splinter quickly said as he raised the same finger again and then lowered as he finished, the four turtles didn't bother to stand to attention and just turned so half of their bodies faced him but their heads turned to him completely,

"Hai, Sensei…" the four turtles said in a 'I am getting tired of this' tone of voice, and then turned to the entrance and ran, but just they were nearly out of the lair,

"Make sure you go before leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!" as Master Splinter talked, the turtles all but froze at his new advice before turning to him,

"Sensei!" the four said as they sounded a bit annoyed at his new life advice.

Splinter then let out a resigned sigh, "Good luck, my sons."

At this the turtles beamed and sounded so excited about their new adventure and then finally exited their home at speed, but not before,

"Look both ways before crossing the street!" the four turtles heard from Splinter from the tunnel but by then they were already stood next to the hole they slid in through and began to climb it.

10:19pm… New York City Rooftops.

The atmosphere that surrounded the four turtles was much brighter than before. Because this time around, they had a home to go back to and they had their father's/sensei's approval to be where they were; jumping across from building to building whilst having fun at the same time. However as they were coming across a certain building, Leo halted everyone,

"Hold up ninjas!" Leo commanded and the three skidded to a stop to look at Leo,

"What is it, Leo?" Donnie asked as Leo was staring at a certain building. Leo pointed towards the building, and confused at why their brother was doing what he was doing, Raph was about to voice his irritation when Mikey saw the building himself and piped up with a smile,

"Dude, there are buildings all other the city yo! But that is one gnarly building!" Mikey said, completely oblivious to Leo and his brother's face-palming,

"No Mikey, that's not why I stopped you guys…" Leo said and then pointed to the building, "I recognize that logo, it's the same one as the one on the van that was used to kidnap the girl and the man from earlier!" at this, the other three turtles turned to look at the building. It was true, the building had a logo on it, it was a hexagon shape that had six other hexagons on its six sides with the outside shapes coloured white and the inside shape had no colour. Even though the others had acknowledged the logo, they still didn't see what was so important until Raph and Donnie had realized what Leo just said,

"Wait, there was a logo on that van?" Raph said

"I didn't see any such logo…" Donnie said as he was disappointed in himself for not paying any attention to detail from the kidnapping incident.

"Ok, guys here's what we do now…" Leo said as he came up with a plan that would be his first real order for their first real mission.

 **(Flashback)**

9:00pm, the Lair/ New Home…

The four turtles sat kneeling on the floor with their sensei stood up straight in front of them.

"First things first, if you are to be an effective unit then you are going to need a leader." Master Splinter said and at those words, Leo quickly answered with,

"Can I be the leader?" Leo said as he raised his hand as if to gain more attention. And he did… from Raph,

"Why should you be leader? I kicked your butt! I should be the leader!" Raph said as he made his argument known.

"Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together, it should me!" Donnie said as he also made his argument known.

"No way! It should be me!" Mikey announced and at this as the other three turned their heads at him with a look of confusion and disbelief.

"I don't really have a reason! I just think it would be neat!" Mikey said with a smile and most likely not taking this seriously. Unlike Master Splinter however, who turned his back to walk a few feet away to prepare his lesson,

"This is a difficult decision to make. It may take some time to decide… its Leonardo!" Master said but the way he announced that Leo would be the leader made it sound as if he already had Leo in mind as the leader.

"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked as he turned to Raph whose response was to growl before answering,

"Ah, stick it in yer shell!" Raph said as he stood up and faced their sensei and then the others followed suit and readied themselves for whatever Master Splinter was going to throw at them for this training exercise.

 **(End of Flasback)**

10:28pm, New York City Rooftops.

Leo's plan was a simple stakeout of the building with the weird looking logo and they had been staking out for seven minutes and already Mikey looked a little lost,

"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here?" Mikey asked and then the other three groaned at this.

"Mikey, we've been over this; that building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the girl and the man, so if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show himself." Leo explained but Mikey seemed to miss something,

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey said as he punched the air as if proud that he got it, but Leo could only face-palm again at this.

"Just hit the guy I tell you to…" Leo said again and at this, Mikey grinned and gave a thumbs up toward Leo,

"Will do!"

Raph then took the opportunity to intervene,

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Raph asked as he thought that staking out was going to be a waste of time,

"Trust me. They'll be here any second!" Leo said confidently.

11:11pm

It had been over half an hour and though Leo was patient, that didn't mean his brothers were either. Case in point, Raph sat on a nearly advertisement board looking like he could start hitting Leo across the head for coming up with a daft idea, and meanwhile Mikey and Donnie were passing the time by folding bits of scrap paper they found on the roof. Mikey however lost his (whatever it was) paper design when he flicked it into Donnie's face then plummeting off the rooftop.

11:44pm

Leo was still patiently waiting and looking toward the building he had been staring at for a while now, Raph now stood on the roof and leaned against the advertisement board and wanting to go home from being bored throughout the whole stakeout, Mikey had fallen asleep sitting on the edge of the rooftop, and Donnie had decided to pass the time by using Mikey's kusarigama chain extension from his nunchucks as a skipping rope, and then falling flat on his face when the chain caught his feet.

12:03am

Leo, still patient (if a bit robotic), stood across the building with the strange logo, while Raph looked like he wanted to hit something real bad standing in the middle of the rooftop, Donnie looked bored out of his mind while Mikey was playing 'I spy' with him (though for some reason it was always Raph as the subject of the game).

12:09am

It was at this point that Raph decided that enough was enough and approached Leo of dragging him back to their new home if he refused to move.

Leo was still stalking the building from the spot that he didn't seem to move from in hours,

"Leo, just give it up already, nobody is going to show." Raph said, and two hour of nothing and Mikey and Donnie agreed silently (they were too bored to bother),

"We have to be patient." Leo said but Raph wasn't having any of it,

"No, you have to come up with a better plan, because the four of us standing up here with our thumbs up our noses-"

"I don't think they'd fit." Mikey blurted out as he looked at his thumbs,

"-is pointless." Raph finished and then at that moment the sound of tyres screeching could be heard near the building and Leo smirked.

"You sure about that, Raph?" Leo said with a cocky attitude.

"They just showed up didn't they?" Raph said with a deadpan look and not even bothering to look below. And when he did, they saw a lone man (one of the kidnappers), walk out of the driver's side.

"I should've complained two hours ago!" Raph said thinking he'd jinxed it somehow (he probably did).

It was then that Leo put on his commander voice on down to the accent for what he would think was going to be cool,

"Gentleman, I have a bold and daring plan! There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried without question!" Leo said looking proud at his statement, but then as he finished, he realized his brothers didn't listen and were already on the ground below ready to attack the lone kidnapper. When he saw this he dropped the accent and just whined out, "Guys wait up!"

Leo then used the fire escape to easily slide down to the ground below to join his brothers.

The four surrounded the lone man who looked as uninterested as first time they fought him and his other identical buddies. Raph was all too eager to let his intentions be known,

"Alright pal, we can do this the easy way, or my vote-"at the last three words, Raph cracked his knuckles and they made a very noticeable popping sound, "-the hard way." And then at those words, Raph grinned at the very thought of it.

"Yeah, look at it logically; there are four of us and one of you. Haha! What are you gonna do?" Donnie said as he got a bit cocky. He probably should not have jinxed it as then as if to answer, the lone man pulled out a rectangular shaped gun with a straight serrated edge on the end and fired the gun at the four turtles. The turtles dodged and scattered the guns strange looking projectiles. They had thought they'd be dodging bullets but instead they were dodging pink laser blasts.

"You had to ask!" Raph shouted at Donnie as they dived to the fire escape to use as a shield, meanwhile Mikey dived behind a car and Leo had jumped onto the van the lone man was using. The lone man failed to notice Leo on top of the van and seeing this as an opportunity, Leo jumped from the top of the van and landed a strong drop kick to the man's head and knocking him back against the wall behind him. As Leo landed on his feet, he raised unsheathed his katana and raised the tip at the lone man, but it was at that very moment that the man had unintentionally bounced off of the wall that he was slammed against and Leo had no time to think as the man suddenly staggered towards Leo's katana and the sword impaled him through his chest and exited through his back. Leo was too shocked to react as were his brothers who saw what had just happened. Leo quickly withdrew his sword from the man as he slumped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Leo looked and felt as if he wanted to start panicking and as the man lay lifeless, the other three turtles rushed from their hiding spots to where Leo stood. Donnie crouched to the lifeless man to check if he was alive, meanwhile Mikey and Raph stood on both of Leo's sides, Raph looked down at the man, and Mikey tried to help Leo ,

"Leo, dude… are you alright?" Mikey was concerned about Leo's mental state after the incident, "Leo, it is alright dude, it was an accident…" but Leo interrupted him,

"No it is alright Mikey! I just killed someone!" Leo was a bout rant in a fit of panic when Donnie stopped him,

"Leo, somethings wrong. There is no blood!" Donnie's statement caught everyone's attention. Anyone with half a brain (including Mikey according to Raph) would know that from any stab wound, there was bound to be blood. And being impaled through the chest, there should have been a large pool by now. But nothing in this case. Now confused instead of panicking, Leo and the turtles looked closer. No longer panicking in that moment, they noticed the man was not bleeding from where he was stabbed but instead was emanating pink sparks from the stab wound instead. If there was one thing they knew about human anatomy (especially Donnie), it was that humans do not spark, ever. Realizing this, Donnie opened up the man's suit to get a closer look at the stab wound and then what they saw next made all four turtles flinch back as Donnie inadvertently released what appeared to be a small pink brain-like creature with eyes, sharp teeth and tentacles pop out from the stomach area and scurry off away from the turtles, squealing as it did so.

The turtles could not believe their eyes. This was definitely not human, far from it. After a moment, the turtles recovered from the initial shock to try and sum up what had just happened,

"…er…"

"…"

"…what…?"

"…dude…"

"…D-Donnie…? What… what that…?" Leo all but stammered, still trying to piece together the last few moments and Donnie all but gave out an uncertain answer,

"I… I don't… know… there are no species that I know of that looks like a walking brain." Donnie said and then immediately Mikey piped up with an excited expression and grinning,

"So then maybe it was an alien!" Mikey announced, and three were about to shoot the idea down but then Leo and Raph thought that maybe Mikey was right. Donnie however,

"What? No! Mikey, there are no such things as aliens!" Donnie said as he frowned and sounded irked at the very idea but then much to Donnie's surprise, Raph supported the idea,

"Oh really? Cuz I can't think of a better explanation!" Raph said as he crossed his arms. Leo in the meantime had shook himself out of his initial shock and went back into his leader form,

"Guys… look I know Master Splinter always taught to expect the unexpected, but I don't think he thought that aliens might be involved… regardless we should still search the van for any clues." Leo said and even the others agreed at this order, Donnie still felt the need for more proof about the creature.

The four had barely started investigating the van when Raph opened the vans backdoor and was surprised when a small glass canister green ooze fell from the van and rolled onto road. The four stopped what they were all doing and walked to get a closer look at the glass canister and when they all looked down upon the canister, they instantly recognized what it was. There was no mistaking it, after all, they all knew the story.

 **(Flashback)**

 _August 30_ _th_ _12:33pm, New York City- The Turtles Old Home- 2007_

 _(Splinter's POV)_

 _Even though today was the day that my four sons and I became what we are, it didn't deter me from giving them their daily ninjitsu training. After morning training and some playful hours later, it was here where we sat, in the kitchen munching on algae and worms (all we could eat down here), and three of my four sons were quietly chewing their… food? Donatello was a bit reluctant like usual, while Leonardo and Raphael didn't seem too bothered by it as was I. Michelangelo meanwhile was busy preparing what I assume to be more of our… lunch?_

" _There's a little more algae and worms left if anybody wants it! Anybody? Anybody?" Michelangelo asked as he turned with a pot of more algae and worms._

" _No thanks."_

" _I'm good!"_

" _All yours."_

 _This was their usual reaction to more of the stuff, not that I blamed them for it. But Michelangelo never really seemed to mind,_

" _Well then, I guess there is no room left for… cake!" at the last word, Michelangelo pulled out more algae and worms in the shape of a birthday cake which caught the other three's attention._

" _Whoa, it is a cake!" Donatello said with a surprised expression,_

" _Made of… algae… and worms…" Raphael looked and sounded disappointed upon saying this but something caught Leonardo's eyes,_

" _What's the frosting made out of?" Leonardo asked._

" _You don't wanna know…" Michelangelo answered and I am sure none of us wanted to know but Michelangelo didn't stop smiling._

" _Happy Mutation Day!" Michelangelo announced and at this the other three smiled as well._

" _Happy Mutation Day!" the other three said in unison and all four of my sons smiled and raised their arms up in enjoyment of the event. And I couldn't help but smile as well._

" _Ah yes! Ten years ago today our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families." I said with a smile as the four turned their heads to me. Then Michelangelo dashed from where he stood at the stove to my side with pleading eyes,_

" _Tell us the story, Master Splinter!" Michelangelo asked as he looked up at me and I could only chuckle a bit at how adorable the sight was before saying,_

" _Michelangelo, I have already told it many times!" I said and it was true, they would usually ask this about once or twice a year, so I'm quite sure they all knew the story word for word. However that didn't seem to stop Michelangelo._

" _Please? Pleeeease-"Michelangelo pleaded before Raphael suddenly appeared behind Michelangelo and stopped his pleading by clamping his mouth closed with his hand,_

" _Please, it's the only way to shut Mikey up!" Raphael said sounding a bit irritated at Michelangelo's antics. I sighed and decided to tell our origins,_

" _Very well…. Ten years ago when I was still human, I was leaving a local pet store with four baby turtles-"_

" _That was us?" Michelangelo interrupted._

" _Yes! Don't interrupt!" I said in a stern voice and Michelangelo then took heed of my words and quieted himself. I then continued with our origin story,_

" _As I walked down the street, I bumped into a strange man. Something seemed off about him. I decided to follow. I followed him to dark alleyway where there stood other men exactly identical to himself. I did my best to keep my cover, but it was blown when I accidently stood on a rat which let out an alarmed squeak that caught the men's attention. I then found myself surrounded by the men. 'Go no further!' one of them said, 'This is not a place that is to be seen by you, so is this not a place that will be left by you!' he said and not intending to correct his speech, I fought back when they attacked. The men were no match for me but one of the men was holding a glass canister filled with a strange green liquid that, when I knocked him down, he dropped the canister and it smashed onto the ground and its contents spilled onto me. The ooze then mutated me into what I am now in just seconds and in those seconds, I ended up dropping you four onto the puddle of the green ooze and you mutated into baby turtle humanoids. That was the beginning of our life together…" As I was about to finish, I held up the smashed remains of the same glass canister and showed it to the four boys, "It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all." I finished and as I showed them the glass canister I could see that they listened intently to my every word._

 **(End of Flashback)**

(Normal POV)

12:12am, New York City

All four turtles stared down at the glass container with all of its gooey contents still contained and all four simultaneously let out a 'Woah!' at the sight of it.

"So… that's the-"Leo was about to ask before being interrupted by Donnie,

"Mutagenic ooze that turned us all into what we are now!" Donnie said and then Mikey quickly stopped himself from gaping at the canister to look at his brothers with excitement unable to be contained,

"Let's drink some!" Mikey's words stopped his brothers from staring at the container to look at him with deadpan expression and then Raph just looked annoyed at his statement,

"What? Why would you do that?" Raph questioned and he knew as well as the other two that a stupid question like that was going to get them an equally stupid answer.

"Because if you mutate a mutant… you get a super mutant!" Mikey said and Donnie responded still with a deadpan expression,

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk." Donnie said but Leo stepped in voice his thoughts on the situation,

"Guys, this is huge! Whoever it was who kidnapped those people are the same ones who mutated us fifteen years ago!" Leo said with amazement but Donnie was confused at this,

"How is that possible?" Donnie asked as if he still didn't want to come to the conclusion that aliens somehow existed.

"For alien robots, anything is possible." Mikey said as he lowered his voiced to try and give off a dramatic effect, but Donnie still denied this,

"Stop that, there are no such things as alien robots!" Donnie denied but Raph just looked at him as if he was being unreasonable (which he was),

"Donnie seriously! Then how on EARTH do you explain whatever it was that scurried down the street?" Raph put an emphasis on Earth as if daring him to find an earthly explanation.

Donnie was about to retort but as he kept opening and closing his mouth to try come up with something that to him would make rational sense, he could not find an explanation that would satisfy himself. Seeing this, Raph smirked after which Leo spoke out,

"Alright guys, we still need to find some sort of clue about where they took those humans. Back to the van." Leo ordered. The four went back to the van but not before putting the canister of ooze back into the van. They knew this stuff had the ability to mutate anything organic, so it was best put it somewhere where it couldn't get a random person to mutate. The four began their search of the van outside and inside, and besides the only noticeable of the van being its sunglass windows to avoid suspicious onlookers, there was nothing of note that could lead them to where they took the humans.

12:17pm…

"Find anything anyone?" Leo asked. Since he couldn't find anything useful, he was a little downcast and hopeful that his brothers had some success.

"Nope."

"Nada."

"Zippo."

But that hope Leo had was quickly squashed by those responses. Donnie was leaning over the driver's seat while Raph was in the back of the van and Leo and Mikey were outside of the van. As Donnie was exiting the van, he accidently knocked the side of his shell against what he assumed were radio buttons. He was very wrong, when he pressed the buttons, a computer monitor of sorts suddenly slid up from the dashboard.

"Guys, guys! Look at this!" Donnie's voice was a bit louder than he intended but nonetheless gained the attention of his brothers. They gathered to where Donnie was and saw what it was that he found. That monitor was definitely not there before. Curious, Donnie pressed another button and then the monitor suddenly lit up to reveal a map of the whole city.

"A map of the city?" Raph said but as soon as he did, several pink dots appeared in seemingly random parts of the city.

"Maybe if we connect the dots, we'll get a picture!" Mikey suddenly said as he gave a big smile and the others could only face-palm followed by Raph smacking Mikey other the head.

"OW!"

But it was a red dot that showed itself to be outside the city that caught Leo's attention.

"Why is this area marked with a red dot but not the others?" Leo asked and at this Donnie gave a clear answer for the first time this whole thing started,

"I suspect it has more importance than the other locations." Donnie concluded,

"Then that's where we go." Leo ordered again and then decided that they should 'borrow' the van to take to their next location. The van's dark sun visors would easily conceal the four so they didn't need to worry about being spotted.

12:18pm… New York City… somewhere…

Her night so far was a mix of weird, scary and confusing. What had started out as a normal of going to and from school to meeting with her father at his workplace and then walking home late had turned completely on its head. First a van suddenly stopped in front of them and its occupants come out of said van to kidnap them (and succeed), then they knock out her dad unconscious, then four green mutants suddenly appeared out of nowhere to complicate matters and fail to stop her from being kidnapped along with her dad. She was scared alright, but now here she was, locked in sort of hi-tech facility cell along with her dad and trying to reasons with their kidnappers,

"Hey you can't keep us here like this! We know our rights!" the girl shouted as she pounded on the cell door. Then the other man (her dad), responded to that statement,

"I don't think they care about that, April." The man said. But the girl called April turned around to face him with a look that said she wasn't giving up,

"We can't just sit here. We have to do something!" April said.

"Like what?" said her Dad and at this, April smirked as she thought of an idea.

After a moment, April slumped to the ground and groaned while her Dad hid by the door so as to not be seen. "UUUHHH. Oh… my stomach… the pain is unbearable!" April made sure to make her voice heard in order to attract attention. And it worked! One of the identical men heard the sound and opened the cell's sliding door and entered to investigate and armed with his oddly shaped gun weapon and looking disinterested as before. As he approached April who was lying face-down on the ground, her Dad tried to sneak up to attack from behind. Emphasis on tried as the armed man suddenly turned around at him and immediately, April's Dad stopped what he was doing. But in that instant, April jumped onto the man's back and tried (pathetically) to take him down. The armed man's response was to simply grab her off his back and nonchalantly place April back onto the ground before walking out of the cell and locking the door without even batting an eyelid.

"Well, I guess we can just sit here…" April said sounding a bit defeated.

12:29pm… New York City outskirts,

It had taken a while, but eventually the four turtles drove the van to where red dot on the map was. They parked it a few blocks distance away and exited the van with Leo leading the way,

"Okay guys, we don't to alarm them. We'll silently approach by foot, then retreat. We'll form a plan afterwards." Leo ordered.

"Whatever you say, Fearless Leader!" Raph said as a retort to Leo's near panic attack from earlier and Leo knew it. They jumped from the van to the rooftop of a nearby building and started toward the outskirts of the city, which was a small forest area.

Inside of the forest was what caught their attention as they made their way into it however, as within it stood a small facility of sorts. And the building looked to be surrounded by dozens of look-a-like guards that resembled the kidnappers. Even they knew that besides from twin siblings, humans were not supposed to look exactly alike down to their matching suits.

As they scanned the building from where they stood in the trees undetected, Leo was first to speak,

"There's gotta be like… twenty of them in there…" Leo said and Donnie followed up,

"Yeah, and that's just the ones we can see." Donnie said and Leo nodded in agreement, Raph however retrieved his sai from his belt,

"Alright, an-all-you-can-beat-buffet!" Raph said as he was excited to do a lot of fighting but Leo quickly squelched that idea,

"Hold on Raph! We can't just go charging in!" Leo said but Raph was having difficulty understanding,

"Why not?" he said as he sounded disappointed that he might not get to do some fighting after all, and Donnie agreed with Leo,

"Think you shell-brain, there are innocent lives at stake. If we screw this up, there all goners!" Donnie explained as if he were pointed out the obvious.

"Then we won't screw it up!" Raph bit back but Leo butted in between them as he thought of another plan.

"Alright guys enough. Here's what we do…"

12:31pm

The identical men were standing guard with the same blank look that they seemed to carry, and that blank look did not change even as a van drove up from the forest area and approached the building. Recognizing it as one of their own as it approached the large gate, they failed to notice that the van was not being driven by one their own behind the sun visors but instead was being driven by Leo, with his brothers being in the back of the van. As the van slowed to a stop in front of the gate, the identical guards obviously thought that another one of themselves had returned and the gate slowly opened. When the gate was fully open, Leo slowly drove forwards and into the facility. Leo had all but drove to the middle of the open area when he stopped just in front of another with the back end facing it.

"Okay everyone. Remember, we use _silent_ takedowns on any we across and only those we come across." Leo ordered and even though Raph was disappointed that he couldn't have a brawl had also agreed along with Mikey and Donnie. Then the doors in the middle building opened up to reveal a corridor with guards inside and looking in the opposite direction of the van on the outside. The van's backdoors opened and if anyone there had blinked, then they would have missed it, but as soon as the back doors opened, four blurs of green dashed from the van and into the building. The guards that weren't paying attention had no idea what had hit them as Leo and Raph had bashed and broken the bodies into uselessness, Leo no longer fearing human casualties as he knew he wasn't dealing with humans. After the silent bashing, the four raced off down the hall, but as Donnie looked around as he moved with his brothers, he could not help but notice how out of place the whole inside looked. The hallway and undoubtedly the rest of the inside of the building looked very hi-tech, so much so that it seemed that a pink glow of energy ran along the walls and ceiling and the metal looked far too clean to be anything made for regular people

Donnie stopped as he wandered what their newest enemies were using, "Wow, I've never seen anything like this. They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize." Donnie said with a mix awestruck wonder and confusion, but Raph overhearing this didn't seem to care about that,

"Wow, a metal alloy that even you don't know about! It boggles the mind!" Raph said with both sarcasm and disinterest and it made Donnie annoyed at him,

"Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it!" Donnie challenged but Raph wasn't going to take that bait (no fist fighting involved),

"I don't and-"as Raph tried to finish, Leo butted in to stop their bickering and with good reason,

"Guys, what part of being in an enemy lair do you not understand?" Leo said as he got the four moving forward again and they only stopped at a corner where around it they spotted six more alien brains in robot bodies without their suits on, and they all carried their unique blaster weapons. Seeing this shoved in his face now, Donnie had become completely dumbfounded, but the other three just looked on and ready,

"Whoa. Aliens robots!" Donnie could only say in the dumbfounded state he was in, however Mikey could only respond as if it were the most obvious thing in the world,

"Alien robots, huh? Hm, where have I heard that before?" and then he raised his voice, "Oh yeah! WE'VE TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE!" and Mikey's shouting got the aliens brains' attention and they started firing at the ninja turtles. Now their cover was blown and they charged straight at the aliens, luckily for them and for some strange reason, the aliens had clear shots but kept missing with every shot they took. Leo unsheathed his katana and sliced through one of the robots heads while Raph used his twin sai to stab another and both attacks rendered the two robots useless, Mikey shoulder tackled one alien robot which disarmed it and then he used that opportunity to bash the robot until it broke with his wildly swinging nunchucks before kicking it away, and just then Donnie smacked another robot away with his staff before using the robot's head as leverage to flip over it slam it to the ground, disabling it. Meanwhile, Raph had tackled another alien robot to the ground and impaled its metal head with his sai, just then another robot was kicked his way and using the opportunity, he stabbed the robot through its arm and flung it over his shoulder and then stabbed its head. After that, two of the robots they thought they disabled had gotten back up and started to fire at Leo, who dodged each laser blast and then bounced of the wall and sliced through one robot straight through the mid-section, destroying it. Then as if with practised ease, he started to deflect each and every laser blast from the remaining robot with his twin katana, one such deflection hit the robot in its eye area, stunning it and Leo took that chance sliced the robot right through its shoulder sown to the opposite side down the middle, destroying it.

After their victory from that minor scuffle, the four gathered to Leo's side and as they did that, the alien brain was suddenly ejected from the robot it was operating and screeched at the four. Leo, Raph and Donnie could only react by letting out surprised screams, but Mikey simply stepped in and smacked the alien over its head and knocking it out. Mikey then picked up the alien by its squidgy tentacles and held it in front of Donnie's face,

"See? See? It's a brain thing! We told you. We told you! But did you believe us? NO! Because you think you already know everything!" Mikey scolded Donnie, weird scenario when it was usually the other way around with Mikey being scolded by someone else. After the scolding, the alien suddenly regain consciousness and screeched before biting its sharp teeth into Mikey's holding arm.

"OW!" Mikey shouted out even though the bite never went through his skin. The alien then started biting and nibbling on Mikey's arm. It was an irritant and Mikey just started swinging his arm about to get the alien brain thing off of him. And he succeeded! The alien was flung from his arm and smacked into a wall, which also happened to be where an alarm button was placed so when the alien smacked the wall, it also smacked the alarm button. The alarm then sounded all over the building and alerting every alien within the facility, and as the alien landed on the ground it then scurried away,

"Mikey!" the three turtles said at their brother and said brother could only flinch a bit at that mishap but…

"O.K. But we were still right about the brain thing. You gotta give me that!" Mikey said over the sounding alarm. It was then that they heard more robots approaching their location and saw the encroaching shadows along with those sounds. They had no time to waste and Leo knew it,

"Let's move." Leo ordered but Raph questioned him,

"Move where?" it was a good question, then as Donnie looked at the pink electric energy along the ceiling and walls he realized something,

"I think those are power conduits." Donnie said as he gave an educated guess and pointed to the pink glow but Raph did not see what he was talking about,

"Oh, that's really interesting. Thanks for sharing with us, Donnie!" Raph said with sarcasm when he couldn't care less and Donnie knew it,

"Meathead, the conduits are all converging that way, which means that whatever is in that direction is IMPORTANT!" Donnie said as he pointed in said direction, the opposite of the encroaching reinforcements and shouted that last word as if he were a teacher annoyed with a student before turning off to head in the direction he was pointing towards. Leo then silently ordered Raph to go along with Donnie's lead. Raph looked peeved at being scolded like a little kid and Mikey grinned and relished this moment, he walked to Raph's side and decided to try to rub some salt in the wound,

"You got spanked!" Mikey said as he laughed and pointed and Raph's response was to grab and twist the accusing finger,

"OW! OW! Mercy!" Mikey quickly said as his finger was twisted (not too much though) and at 'mercy', Raph let go and walked ahead with the other two and then Mikey followed a second later but not before mentioned how uncool that was.

The four began running along the corridor and turning at corners into new ones as they ran in the opposite direction of the reinforcements. As they ran along one such corridor they ran past a cell that had the kidnapped people within and Donnie this out the corner of his eye as they passed, he turned to look into the cell to get a proper look and saw that they had found them,

"We found them!" Donnie announced and the others converged. The two inside the cell looked at each other wandering what the green mutant outside was and if they were there for them, but as they did, the alien robot reinforcements arrived and fired their weapons at the four ninjas.

"Donnie, we'll hold them off! You get the door open!" Leo ordered and Leo, Raph and Mikey raced forward to fight the robots while Donnie scanned the electronic lock that was next to the door. He turned to the two occupants of the cell,

"Don't worry! I'll have you out of there in a second!" Donnie said as he tried to reassure them but April could only respond with concern and confusion at the mutant outside,

"Okay, giant… lizard… thing…" she said but Donnie simply corrected her,

"Turtle actually… I'm… I'm Donatello." Donnie said as he introduced himself and April responded with a slight smile,

"April." She said

"Wow, that's a pretty-" before he could finish however, he was abruptly stopped as Leo accidently slammed him into the cell door and then turned to him completely annoyed that Donnie hadn't even started yet,

"The lock, Donnie!" Leo said,

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah, sorry." Donnie realized quickly and turned to the electronic lock and began to try and get it to open the door by messing with its wiring. Meanwhile, Mikey and Raph were having the time of their lives knocking down alien robots like dominoes. Donnie was in the middle of fiddling with the wiring when April got impatient and peeked over to let her impatience be known,

"Not to rush you, but, hurry up!" April ordered and Donnie responded by turning toward her,

"Hey, you think it's easy trying to pick a lock with these hands?" Donnie said as he waved the hands in question-his.

"Sorry." Said April and just then Raph had kicked a robot away as it was getting close to Donnie and then got annoyed as he thought it was taking too long,

"Oh, for the love of… get of my way!" Raph announced as he approached Donnie and then promptly shoved him away before stabbing the electronic lock relentlessly with his sai.

" _How is that going to get the door open?"_ Donnie thought and inside the cell, the sound of an electronic door opening could be heard but it wasn't the door the two inside faced, instead it was another door behind them, the door opened to reveal three alien robots approaching the father and daughter inside. It did not take much to take them away with their current strength as they dragged the two from their cell and further away from the turtles.

Just as they exited the cell, the other door finally opened and the turtles just got a glimpse of April being dragged away by the aliens. Suddenly the aliens they were fighting started firing at them again so instead of fighting back, the turtles fled from the shower of laser shots. They ran through the corridor until they came across a door, and not wasting any time, they barrelled through it,

"Get the door!" Leo ordered and Raph turned to shut it only to find an alien robot hand reach out to grab him, Raph tried to shut the door the robot's shoulder was stopping the door from closing, Raph grabbed the arm and then kicked as hard as he could on the robot's torso area and pulled the arm. The result was Raph separating the arm from the body, and then finally shutting the door closed and then used the broken arm to keep the bar handles together, effectively keeping the door from opening.

"That'll hold'em." Raph said as he turned to his brothers, who just looked at him as if he'd just become maniacal.

"What?" Raph asked.

"You… are seriously twisted." Leo responded not wanting to find out why Raph did what he did.

"Thanks!"

"NO! Let me go!" suddenly the sound of April shouting from the building rooftop reached their ears and they immediately sprang back into action.

"Let's get'em!" Leo ordered. They ran fast and sprang up the wall as they approached it and landed on a helicopter platform, with an operational helicopter on it about to take off with the alien captors and the two humans inside. The helicopter hovered over the platform and just as Leo and Raph raced to it, the helicopter was already out of their reach.

"No!" Leo shouted. But his brothers weren't giving up,

"Leo, Mikey and I can reach it!" Donnie said as he readied his staff like a pole-vault and Mikey readied his kusarigama chain extension of his nunchucks. Mikey swung the kusarigama chain at the helicopter and succeeded in lassoing the chain around the foot of the helicopter. Meanwhile Donnie had used his staff like a pole-vault to launch himself upwards towards the helicopter, the launch was powerful as it was evident that Donnie had grabbed the same foot of the helicopter that Mikey's kusarigama chain was attached to, now both Donnie and Mikey were hanging off as Mikey began to climb up the chain and Donnie began to try and climb into the helicopter. But one of the aliens was armed with its blaster and took action, it used the straight saw part of the laser blaster to cut through Mikey's kusarigama chain and it snapped, sending Mikey screaming and plummeting back down to the launch pad. Good thing Leo and Raph were still there to catch him. And catch him they did! But they the force of Mikey's caused all three to land in a heap. At least they were alright. Then the alien powered up the blaster intending to shoot Donnie next,

"Oh good! For a second there I thought this was gonna be too easy!" Donnie said sarcastically and just then the alien fired at Donnie, he managed to dodge the laser fire by moving around the foot of the helicopter so that he was now directly underneath it and out of firing range, he then took a shuriken from his belt and placed it in between his toes, now with the alien that was shooting at him directly above him, Donnie flipped his feet up and a split second later, he stabbed the alien in its robotic head with the shuriken he placed in his toes, he then grabbed the robot by the shoulders with his legs and pulled the alien off the side and sending it plummeting down. But the alien wasn't finished yet, it pointed the blaster up at the helicopter and fired. The shots narrowly missed Donnie but it hit the bottom of the helicopter and its alien pilot struggled to keep it steady from being shot at. Eventually the unsteadiness caused April inside to lose her balance and she tumbled out from the side of the helicopter and she had no way of saving herself. Thinking fast, Donnie lept from the foot of the helicopter straight down towards a falling April. He dived past her and rolled safely onto the platform (thanking his hard shell silently), and just in time as he caught April in his arms and stopping her from falling to certain death.

"Are you okay?" Donnie asked and April could only gasp and breath heavily to catch her breath now that she was safe for now, but instead of answering Donnie's question, she looked up to the helicopter with a forlorn look on her face,

"Dad…" as she said this, the vehicle containing her father vanished over the city skyline.

Leo, Raph and Mikey had then ran up to Donnie with April still in his arms.

"We've gotta go." Leo ordered, and as they were on the platform they could see that they were also on at one end of the facility and could easily exit over the whole place and disappear into the forest. And they did this as April clutched onto the back of Donnie's neck as he still held her bridal style and the five left the facility far behind. Seeing this, the aliens began to inform each other as they had then just broken out of the door they were shut behind and just caught a glimpse of the five disappearing off the platform above.

"Kraang, the ones in this place, are not in this place where they were." Said one alien robot.

"The ones that are mutant creatures, Kraang. They are dangerous to what we are doing in this place and other places." Said the other alien and then the previous one answered,

"Yes, I am knowledge of that. The ones that are mutant creatures must be eliminated from all places." If the turtles and April had stayed a little while longer they would have overheard the aliens calling themselves the Kraang. But they would no doubt encounter them again.

1:18am New York City, April's aunt's apartment building.

It had been one heck of a night for all five of them, probably the most excitement they had had, and most likely would have to do this again now that they were involved. But now that was over, the five were now gathered at the balcony of an apartment building that also sat on top of an antique shop called '2nd Time Around', April sat on the edge of the balcony window while the four mutants that saved her were standing on the balcony.

"Are you gonna be alright?" Donnie asked April.

"I guess. My aunt says I can stay with her and her shop for as long as I want… but I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my Dad." April responded as her voice had a mix of determination and uncertainty. Not knowing about how much the surface worked, Leo had to ask,

"Won't the police help?" he asked and April could only chuckle at how naïve that was,

"Funny thing.. When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously." April said as she smiled at Leo question and lack of knowledge of the city police. And Raph agreed with her,

"Believe me, we know the feeling." Raph said as he looked towards Donnie who shot him a dirty look. But then turned back to face April with a look and voice of confidence and determination,

"April, I promise you we will not rest until we find him." Donnie said and Raph responded a bit confused,

"We won't?" he said and Leo elbowed his side in response,

"No, we won't." he said as he shot Raph his own dirty look.

"Thank you, but it's not your fight." April said as she felt a little comfort at how they wanted to be involved and Donnie responded by placing his hand on top of hers to assure her of their involvement,

"Yes, it is." Donnie said and April looked into his eyes and smiled, and Donnie instantly withdrew his hand and blushed a little bit at that smile, and from there the four turtles waved their goodbyes to April, who waved her own and retreated into the room from the balcony while the turtle ninjas onto the roof and began racing back to their new home in the sewers.

1:22am, New York City, The Turtles' New Home- abandoned tunnel section.

It had been a very long night, and when Master Splinter saw his fours walk through the large opening of their newest home, he became instantly relieved that they came back with seemingly no injuries and in one piece. After greeting their sensei, they began to update him on their mission and how it succeeded. From the alien discovery to the startling discovery that said aliens were involved in their mutation, to saving April but failing to save her dad as well.

"I am impressed, my sons. You four have remembered your training and worked together as an effective team, I am proud of you all." Splinter said as he praised their success.

"Thank you Sensei. And I think I know why you made me leader." Leo said as his three brothers looked at him as if they thought he was going to rub it in their faces about it.

"Oh? Why is that?" Splinter asked.

"Because you sensed in me a true warrior spirit that can forge us all into the heroes we are destined to become!" Leo said as he thought he sounded like some fantasy hero, but his three brothers were just groaning at how dramatically stupid that sounded,

"Bro, that was so corny!"

"Are you serious Leo? That statement just makes me wanna punch you!"

And Donnie just looked like he wanted to turn in for the night and try to forget about what Leo had just said but then,

"No." Master Splinter said plainly. Which made the other three smirk that Leo just got shot down,

"No? Then why did you make me leader?" Now confused, Leo had to ask,

"Because, you asked." An answer none of them had thought he would say.

"What!" all four turtles said in complete surprise,

"That's it? But you seemed so certain you were right." Leo had said,

"Leonardo, as a leader, you will learn that there is no right and wrong. Only choices." Master Splinter said and at that, Leo came to a conclusion,

"So you could have chosen any of us?"

"Yes."

"Even Mikey?" Leo said in disbelief that his goofball of a brother could've been leader.

"HEY!"

"Leonardo, anyone can be a good and effective leader under the right circumstances. It is never wise to underestimate their abilities, especially if you think they are not capable enough to do so." Master Splinter explained and Leo simply looked down,

"Hai, Sensei." Leo said and then Master Splinter continued,

"Know this, my sons; you may have gotten the upper hand on these alien enemies this time, and you even may do so again, but never forget that they had an objective that they very nearly succeeded in. And I fear that if they succeeded, the worst may have happened. And also don't forget that there are many pieces of this puzzle that are missing, plus we know not the final move." Master Splinter said and at this the four turtles looked at each other with looks of concern.

"So you're saying that this is just the beginning?" Leo asked.

"Yes." A word answer from Master Splinter had given mixed results,

"Well, that just means we get more brains to clobber!" Raph said, happy at the likely possibilities of fighting those aliens again.

"Plus, it means that we could see April again!" the thought of seeing her again had made Donnie's face light up like a Christmas tree.

"Think of all the pizza we could eat!" Mikey said as he remembered how that pizza tasted hours before.

"But first things first; we turn in for the night." Leo said and the others could only agree to that. However this being their new home in such circumstances meant that they had no bedrooms or beds to go to.

"But Leo, we have no beds to give us our beauty sleep!" Mikey said as he dreaded the idea of sleeping on a hard surface.

"One night of sleep on the concrete floor isn't going to kill us Mikey!" Leo said and even though Raph and Donnie agreed with both statements, that still didn't change the thought that sleeping on the hard floor made then cringe slightly.

"Oh well, it's just one night. What's the worst that could happen?" Raph said.

7:33am Tokyo Foot HQ.

Meanwhile, at the top floor in a fortified tower far away in Japan, a lone Japanese man sat a table wearing a Japanese style combat uniform with a symbol of a red spiked foot in a black circle on the front shoulders, and he was having a conversation with an African-American man wearing a lab coat over a large monitor on the wall opposite him.

"Dr Stockman. I'm sure you know about why I'm calling you now?" said the man, and the one he called Dr Stockman responded with a tone of arrogance in his voice,

"Master Shredder, if this is about the Mouser's test run, I can assure you everything is going according to plan and everything is on schedule." Dr Stockman said but the person he referred to as master Shredder was not buying it,

"Everything? I have learned that nearly half of your legion of robots has been destroyed." Shredder said but Dr Stockman was acting as if he planned it that way,

"Yes well… the test run was supposed to expose any setbacks. I have already begun upgrading their defences. I can assure you this was nothing more than a minor setback." Dr Stockman said as he tries convince the other man, but at the words 'minor setback', Shredder slammed his fist against the table he sat at,

"Minor setback? Minor setbacks like this can create a domino effect. A minor setback had created one such effect that nearly cost me everything once before, and I'll have your head if this next one is because of your arrogance!" Shredder said, his anger very evident and Dr Stockman knew he was not joking. Shredder has claimed many lives before, and the scariest about it is that no-one knows he exists. The only ones who know about him are those in the criminal underworld and all were afraid of him.

"I do not like it when these 'minor setbacks' create bigger problems. Case in point; I have already learned from Hun that you rushed the test run, you released the Mousers before they were ready!" Shredder said as he was not liking Dr Stockman's seemingly lack of concern.

"I can assure you that-"but Dr Stockman was interrupted by Shredder's angry voice as he tried to explain,

"Do not try to 'assure' me of anything! I have also learned that the gangs in your home city are getting more rampant. Are you going to say that they are of no concern as well?" while it was true that the gangs were getting more violent, it was also becoming true to The Shredder that Dr Stockman may need to learn his place.

"They are of no concern-"but once again Dr Stockman was interrupted by an angry voice in Shredder,

"I do not care if you think they are of no concern to you, however in my eyes I see an opportunity to claim the city." At that those words, Dr Stockman took an educated guess at Shredders thoughts,

"Let me guess; you're going to fly other to New York in order to control its gangs? With what?" Dr Stockman asked arrogantly but that arrogance disappeared with The Shredder's next and only word,

"Fear." At that word alone, a shiver when down Dr Stockman's spine and he flinched a bit. He knew what Shredder was capable of and if said he could control people using fear alone, then he knew it was possible he could do it. After all, everyone that knew him was afraid of him, and Dr Stockman shuddered at the thought of Shredder coming to New York as he was afraid of him as well.

"Expect my arrival in New York within six days." And at that, Shredder pulled a remote from a hidden draw in the table and used it to disconnect from the other man.

It was at that moment that a young girl in her teens wearing armoured ninja gear and black mask and a black leotard underneath steeped out of one of many shadows in the room, and bowed to The Shredder from where she stood,

"Father." Said the girl

"Ah, Karai. I trust YOUR task went smoothly?" asked the Shredder to his apparent daughter. As much as he trusted that the girl named Karai is more than capable of succeeding her missions, he still let her know that he didn't like failure.

"Yes father. The Yakuza will not be ignoring your orders again. I have made sure of that." Karai said darkly.

"Excellent. Because another potential problem has shown itself in New York City. I am going to leave for it soon to make sure it does not become a worry. I trust that our headquarters here can be manned by you?" Shredder asked and behind her mask, Karai smirked with dark thoughts,

"Yes father, I will see to it." Karai answered. It was settled then: The Shredder was heading to New York.

* * *

 **Me: Hey there! Just to avoid confusion with The Shredder, I am going with the 2003 look but he is going to have a completely different back story, and so will Karai. I also picked Stockman's 2003 look and persona over the 2012 version. Anyway, I hope you guys are liking my story so far and stay tuned!**


	4. Horror of the Mousers

**Me: hello again, readers! So, just a heads up, this chapter has some gory descrptions. I did say earlier that I would put my own spin into the clash of the 2003 and 2012 cartoons, this will be the first of many.**

* * *

April 24th 2012, 11:35am… New York City, The New Lair,

It had now been a few days since the incident involving the killer robots, the alien robots and April, and in those few days, the four ninja turtles and their rat master had used this time to renovate the whole of their newest home that included sweeping the floor and walls, removing unused pipes, using said pipes for new plumbing and railings for the second floor balcony walks (as it didn't have any), removing anything from their old home that survived the attack and into their new home as well as going to the surface in order to find useful junk at a nearby junkyard (which was surprisingly useful junk). They already had several items that survived the attack on their previous home which included: the homemade training dummy, Master Splinter's memorial shrine and old family photo (that was in his bedroom at the old Lair), a fridge (carrying that thing took Raph and Leo a while to move out and into their new home), theirs beds and mattresses (minus Raph's), Donnie's lab equipment plus his laptop and tools and the TV- much to Mikey's delight.

Their new home was still far from being fully renovated, but it was a work in progress that all five were putting their best efforts into. Right now, Donnie was near the top of the ceiling thanks to his makeshift pulley that he put together from parts from the junkyard that the four were starting to frequent. He was up there using a torch cutter to remove bits of old unused piping that was sticking out of the ceiling, Master Splinter was down below on the first floor repairing their homemade training dummy, and Mikey was simply sweeping the floors with an old broom he found at the junkyard. However he quickly got bored of that and their TV was still not operational as Donnie found himself too busy with everything else, so this left Mikey groaning in boredom (for the umpteenth time),

"What's the matter Mikey? Can't decide what to watch?" Donnie asked sarcastically as he knew that the TV was what was on Mikey's mind and as finished slicing some old piping off, he lowered himself to ground level where Mikey was currently at.

We need some power to the TV, Donnie! The Turtle Cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential." Mikey said as though he thought the TV was top priority however it was what Mikey decided to call their new home that caught Donnie's attention,

"The 'Turtle Cave'?" Donnie said and at that, Master Splinter stopped repairing the training dummy to listen, "That is so lame."

"What would you call it then?" Mikey asked and from there the naming contest began between the two, beginning with Mikey,

"The 'Shell-ter'?"

"…er… how about the 'Sewer of Solitude'?"

"'Terrapin Station'?"

"The 'School for Gifted Reptiles'?"

"The 'Hall of Nin-justice'!"

"The 'Tunnel of the Lean, Mean and Green'!"

"Ooh! We should put 'extreme in that!"

"Or how about the 'Underground Mutant Base'?"

"No wait! I've got it! The 'Lair of the Nightwatchers'!"

But then the two were abruptly stopped by the sound of Master Splinter clearing his throat which got their attention,

"We should call this place 'Home'." Said Master Splinter. It was a short simple one word for a name but it was one that to Donnie and Mikey had completely overshadowed their previous suggestions,

"Catchy."

"Has a nice ring to it." They said simultaneously as they smiled at the newly named home now called 'Home'.

"Now then, what is keeping Leonardo and Raphael?" Splinter asked as Mikey then went back to sweeping to keep himself occupied with little else to do,

"They went to retrieve the rest of our stuff from the old Lair." Mikey answered.

"And with how we've already mapped out how to get there from here now that the way to it has been cleared, they should be back soon.

11:37am… The Old Lair…

Leo was busy moving some old stuff into a large bag he found at the junkyard they visited a while ago, and these things included: the broken glass canister that contained the substance that mutated them, a pile of magazines and DVDs that Mikey collected, once he finished packing he made his way over to the turnstiles that the crumpled debris somehow missed and to where Raph was standing, waiting for him,

"Our home… our home for fifteen years… and this all that's left now…" Leo said completely downtrodden and saddened. Once he was passed the turnstiles, Raph made his way to the nearest wall,

"When I find out who made those home-wrecking robo-roachers…" it was then that Raph punched the wall as hard as he could, with his current physical strength he smashed a few new cracks in the wall and also made the unstable old home shake a little as more dust and stones fell from the ceilings and walls.

"Come on, Raph. We don't to make this place any worse than it already is." Leo said a little forlorn but understanding Raph's action. After one last solemn look behind them, they silently made their farewells to their old home, and then walked slowly away and toward their new home. Getting there was easier now that they knew where they were going, but at their sad pace, it would have taken a few minutes longer to meet up with the rest.

11:51am… New Lair

The atmosphere that Leo and Raph brought with them to the rest of their family back home could have been cut by Leo's katana. Leo was simply sad but hopeful things would fall back together in their new home, meanwhile Raph was still understandably mad and when he saw Donnie fixing one of the killer robots, he so wanted to smash it into pieces. However Leo lessened the tension by saying something light-hearted,

"Good news Mikey, your DVD and comic book collections survived!" Leo said as he approached Mikey and then handed over the DVDs and comics.

"Sweet! Now if only 'Dr D' over there would fix our TV, we could put something on that would be low on story and heavy on gory!" Mikey said as he pointed his thumb toward the turtle he referred to as 'Dr D'.

Speaking of Donnie, as he tinkered with the broken robot, it looked as though the head was back in one piece which made Master Splinter a bit uncomfortable and Raph more tempted to smash it,

"Donatello, I must say that even though that thing is not working still, I am still feeling a bit on edge." Splinter said and even though Raph didn't completely agree with the statement he still agreed with Splinter,

"Donnie, wouldn't it make more sense to destroy those things rather than repair them? What if that thing attracts some of its buddies?" Raph asked and it was also a possibility that crossed Splinter's mind,

"Actually, I'm hoping for the exact opposite, you see if I can get this thing to work again, I can try to reprogram it so it lead itself back to its buddies rather than the other way around. Plus, I can't help but feel absolutely fascinated by the technology this thing has." Donnie said as he got back to tinkering with the robot.

11:59am… New York City… Roosevelt High School…

Even though it was now lunchbreak for many of the students including April, she still couldn't help but think about her harrowing experience a few nights ago. The alien brains in robot bodies, her Dad being kidnapped by said aliens and also her mutant rescuers, whom she still didn't know the names. Mutant or not, they must have names and during the chaos, she only learned of one of their names: Donatello. To her, he seemed young, and as she remembered his face and voice she couldn't help but feel like he might be slightly geeky. She had given them her name as well. As she walked with her thoughts heavy on her mind, she failed to notice a teen boy directly in her way until she literally walked into his back.

"Hey! Watch it!" said the boy, who then turned around to get a look at whoever it was who bumped into him. He turned and his mood lightened when he saw April.

"…er… sorry…" April apologised but the boy just grinned and showing his teeth, as he did, April noted about three teeth missing, brown eyes, his black hair covered by a bandanna with an odd pattern to it, and his clothes were slightly ragged and were splattered with numerous paints. The only parts that didn't have paint on them were his fingerless gloves and his trainers.

"Hey, don't worry about it, babe!" the boy said and that was what brought April out of her thoughts,

"Babe? Exactly who do you think you are?" April asked as she was irritated by the 'babe' comment.

"Well babe, the names Casey Jones. And seeing as its lunchbreak, how about you and me go get lunch together?" the boy named Casey asked. April pondered this for a moment, in the few days since her experience, she hasn't been very social, she didn't have many friends for some reason or other and those she did call friends, she didn't find herself hanging out much. Perhaps it was time to change things and try to pretend to have a normal life,

"Fine then. But only because you asked nicely." April said and Casey smiled and the two proceeded together but not before Casey said,

"It's a date then. Nice!" Casey said and April looked a bit annoyed at that comment but said nothing against it. The thought of having a normal life despite her near alien abduction would be just the thing she needed,

"What's your name anyway, babe?" Casey asked and April answered,

"My name is April, and please don't call me 'babe'."

2:20pm… New York City…

In another part of New York City stood a beige coloured building that was called 'Stocktronics' and it was inside the building that Dr Stockman was busying himself and his employees in a large underground factory that seemed to be mass producing the same killer robots he called Mousers. The robots numbered in the hundreds and more were still being built. Dr Stockman was overseeing the mass production from a small room that had windows instead of walls and a large console to operate the production. It was on this console that a sound rang out which signalled to Dr Stockman that he was receiving a call, and he answered it by tapping on a button which in turn, had switched on a monitor on another part of the console, and the doctor immediately knew who was calling him. The monitor's image revealed the man he called 'Master Shredder', and it as through the speakers that the two men could communicate,

"Stockman, I trust that your Mouser production has made our deadline?" Shredder asked,

"Of course, Master Shredder, my computers have already registered nine-hundred and ten Mousers ready for deployment." Dr Stockman answered,

"Excellent. This will be more than enough to execute the first phase of the plan. You can stop the production now, and then I want you to tie up… loose ends." Shredder ordered. Dr Stockman had his suspicions that he knew what he meant by 'loose ends' but was compelled to confirm it,

"Loose ends?" said Dr Stockman with a hint of suspicion,

"Do not overestimate your technicians, Stockman. They have lives outside of Stocktronics and therefore have lives outside of my Foot Clan. I do not like loose ends. Kill them." It was at his orders that the screen went black and the sound cut off. Dr Stockman had his orders now. He was going to make sure they weren't going to talk anyway and permission from The Shredder would make him carry out his orders with no remorse. He then turned towards the Mouser's controls on another part of the console and began typing in orders for the Mousers to carry out. His actions would definitely cement him as the mad and cruel type of scientist that he was.

6:54pm… The Lair…

After a few hours of tinkering and repairing, Donnie had finally gotten the killer robot back into one piece from one hour ago. Reason being is because his brothers pulled him away from his work in order to get him to eat. When he heard dinner was ready, he grimaced at the thought eating algae and worms again but then was pleasantly surprised that Raph and Mikey had snuck out to the surface to steal some unguarded pizza from a delivery scooter. He was so busy tinkering away that he didn't even notice that they had snuck out and when Master Splinter inevitably found out, he heavily objected and mentally blew a fuse at their actions, and gave them a lecture on why they don't steal. However having said that, that didn't stop any of the five from chowing on some pizza rather than algae and worms again. Once he was done eating, he went back to the robot and it was then that he wired up to his laptop to start reprogramming it.

The other four ninjas had mixed views on Donnie's project; Master Splinter had said as he did before that he was on edge about that robot. Leo didn't like it either and hoped Donnie wasn't overthinking his idea. Raph liked the idea however, and had commented on how much he wanted payback on whoever it was who had made the robots. And Mikey was just relaxed as if it wasn't happening as he sat on a soft chair that they had also found at the junkyard and was reading one of his beloved comics.

7:11pm…

Whenever it was time to train, it usually meant that the four ninja turtles had to stop what they were doing and begin whatever training exercise that Master Splinter had prepared for them, lest they face Splinter's scorn which they all wanted to avoid. So it here they stood, in the middle of the Lair and the four turtles surrounded Master Splinter. Donnie charged first with his staff, but the moment he swung his staff at Splinter, he simply ducked and countered by smacking Donnie's shell with his cane which made Donnie stumble forwards,

"Do not lead with your shoulders Donatello." Master Splinter said as it was evident in the way that Donnie stumbled. It was at that moment that Leo leapt into the air and poised his twin katana over his head intended to strike Splinter, but as he swung them down at Splinter, he swung his cane horizontally and not only deflected Leo's attack but also set him flying back in the direction he came from, and unable to right himself, he landed on his shell and slid back a few more inches,

"Faster on your counter-attack Leonardo." Splinter said since Leo couldn't right himself fast enough. It was then that Mikey charged next intending catch his Sensei off guard, but Splinter saw it coming and swept Mikey off his feet by using his cane and Mikey couldn't retain his balance and fell shell first onto the floor just like Leo had,

"Find your foot-work Michelangelo." Splinter said as was a little easy to trip up Mikey. It was then that Raph charged in with his twin sai and as he attacked with his weapons, Master Splinter somersaulted over Raph head and when he turned to face Splinter again, Splinter swung his cane at Raph's twin sai one at a time and easily disarmed him. Though Master Splinter knew that Raph would've been much more capable than that and so he shoved Raph shell first against a nearby wall and pinned him there with his cane. But even though his arms weren't pinned as well, he still didn't bother fighting back and Splinter knew why,

"You are distracted Raphael, you must learn to focus your attacks." Master Splinter said but Raph's distraction was lying on a table that Donnie was using to repair it,

"I'd like to focus my attacks on whoever made that thing!" Raph said as Splinter backed away and allowed him to brush himself off. It was clear that the inactive robot that Donnie was repairing was on all four of the turtle's minds, without that, they would've no doubt given off a better performance and they all knew it. Splinter however knew what would happen once Donnie inevitably fixed the robot; they would use it to track down whoever it was that made it in the first place. Realizing this, Splinter turned to his new bedroom and retreated inside,

"We will resume this training in the morning." Master Splinter announced and once he was out of sight, Mikey decided to do an impression of his sensei for whatever reason only for the subject of his impersonation to overhear him and surprise him and the other three turtles with his hearing abilities,

"I heard that, Michelangelo."

"BUSTED!"

But Raph was growing impatient about the lack of progress being made on the robot and growled quietly,

"I'd really like to bust a few heads!" Raph said

"Dude, chill!" Mikey said and Donnie complied,

"Yeah, Raph. Right now, that robot is wired into my laptop, all that needs to be done now is reprogram it. It shouldn't take too long." Said Donnie,

"So come on, Raph, relax. We got comics galore here while we wait!" Mikey said as he walked over to the chair he used a while ago to continue reading his comics.

"Forget it." Raph said as he walked to his room feeling annoyed.

7:36pm…

It had only been over twenty minutes when Donnie began working on reprogramming the robot but now it was finished. The robot was instantly reactivated and instead of attacking Donnie and the other occupants of the Lair, it instead did as Donnie had reprogrammed it to do and it simply turned around and walked out of the Lair, with Donnie right behind it,

"Guys, I got it working! Come on, we have to follow it!" Donnie shouted out to the others and the three ninja turtles wasted no time in running alongside Donnie. Raph was finally grinning from ear to ear at the thought of inflicting some much needed payback, Mikey groaned as Leo pulled him away from his comics while Leo himself was simply ready to lead his brothers to another potential battle. As they ran after the robot and out through the large exit, they were more than surprised when Master Splinter stood beyond the entrance and waiting for them at the hole in the wall that lead up to the surface.

"Sensei?" Leo said as he had not expected to him there. But alas there he was standing with a stern look that made him and his brothers stop running after the robot and stand to attention as that look also told him and his brothers that whatever he said was not up for debate. When the robot ran straight past Master Splinter however and further down the tunnel, Raph forget about it for a moment,

"Master Splinter! We can't let that robot get away!" Raph said but Splinter's stern face did not let up but then Splinter's next words took them all completely by surprise,

"No we cannot." Splinter said and the look of bewilderment on his son's faces told him that they expected him to tell them to turn around and head back home,

"Do not misunderstand, my sons. I am not here to stop you. I am here to accompany you on this mission." Splinter announced and as he turned in the direction the robot was heading he ordered the four turtles to run with him.

The team of five mutant ninjas now continued on to chase the runaway robot, and as they were running through the tunnel, Mikey felt a question in his head that needed to be answered,

"So Master Splinter, not that I'm not grateful for you coming with us, but, why now and not when April's kidnapping happened?" Mikey asked and Splinter answered,

"Because my son, that time the four of you needed to learn how rely and work together. You have done that and I also had faith that you would return home. If I had come with you on your mission then, I fear that you would have forgotten my lessons and rely solely on me and the lessons would have been for nothing. This time however, I have a great sense of dread that I fell that I cannot ignore." Master Splinter said as they ran. Leo understood right away, while Donnie and Mikey looked slightly worried. They knew that whenever Splinter had a feeling of something, his instincts were usually spot on. Raph however still needed to understand the meaning of this,

"But sensei, isn't that just a feeling?" Raph asked as he continued running and Splinter answered once again,

"Ignore your instincts at your own peril, my son." He answered. And as he did, the tunnel they were running through had ended and exited into a sewer pit that was blocked off at the top and below was completely abandoned and out of use for years it seemed. In the middle stood a large pipe that connected the tunnel to the other wall on the opposite side and acted as a bridge to stand on. It also seemed that the robot had no trouble walking across it and as the five ninjas ran across it as well in order to keep up with the robot, Leo had to voice his concerns about the pipe they were using as a bridge,

"Watch your step here guys, a fall from here would definitely kill us." Leo said as they ran across the pipe-bridge. But it was then that the robot had come face to face with the wall, and then proceeded to walk up the wall with its sharp talon-like feet.

"Resourceful little critter." Donnie said,

"So what do we do now?" Raph asked and Leo answered,

"A ninja is always prepared." Leo said and Splinter had a hint of pride flash in his eyes but the four turtles didn't see it and the four retrieved a pair of shuko spikes from their belts and Splinter did the same, retrieving a pair from his robe. They rapped the spikes onto their hands so that the spikes faced out and Mikey then decided to say something witty,

"I thought that was the boy scouts!"

The five then proceeded to use their shuko spikes to climb the wall leaving four holes behind with each time their spikes latched onto a new part of the wall, however Mikey could only complain about the climb,

"Uh… next time, let's leave the wall climbing to the guy in the blue and red tights!" Mikey complained

"You read way too many comics, Mikey." Leo said as he knew that comic book reading was all Mikey was doing in his spare time when he wasn't helping with making the Lair more liveable.

"Focus, my sons. That robot has reached a new tunnel." Master Splinter said and sure enough the robot had stopped walking up the wall and proceeded down the tunnel it had just entered. And within less than a minute, the five ninjas had reached the tunnel as well and resumed chasing after the robot down the new tunnel. It wasn't new per se as it was another abandoned tunnel but it was still yet another new part of the underground that the five mutants had yet to traverse. As they ran, they also took the time remove their shuko spikes from their palms and back into their belts/robe. But as they ran along the tunnel, a new question arose in Mikey's mind that he needed to ask,

"So Donnie, I'm just curious but, what's to stop ol' turbo jaws from munching up another eight out of ten points for destruction?" Mikey asked and Donnie could only answer with pride,

"I shut down its jaw servos while I was reprogramming it. It couldn't even chew through a stick of gum!" Donnie said with pride but Splinter had something to say about that,

"Pride comes before a fall, my son." Splinter said but Donnie had too much pride in his abilities in computers and technology to acknowledge his sensei's words,

"Don't worry sensei. I'm more than confident about this." However, Donnie's pride was about to take a blow, as it was then that the robot had skidded to a halt and turned to the wall on its right and proceeded to bite through it like a knife through butter.

"You were saying?" Raph said nonchalantly as Donnie's pride took a blow,

"But I… I'm sure I disabled the jaws…" Donnie said as he was completely baffled and Mikey walked up to him and placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder and let out a mocking sigh,

"Donnie's finally lost his techno-mojo! Sad, really." Mikey said which did nothing to cushion the blow, but then again the four brothers did have a habit of never cushioning any blow to one another's pride,

"I repeat what I said, my son; pride comes before a fall." Master Splinter said once again and this time Donnie listened,

"Hai, sensei… it must have some sort of security overwrite routine." Donnie had concluded and when he did, the five proceeded to the new hole in the wall that the robot had just finished making. The hole was just large enough for the five to walk through if they crouched. Which they did and proceeded onward through.

"When I get my hands on those robo-friends it has, I'm going to enjoy tearing them apart!" Raph announced but Donnie had to bring down those intentions down,

"Easy Raph, we still need to keep the one we have intact."

They then saw an opening in the short tunnel (no doubt created by the not-so- partially disabled robot), and came upon what seemed to be some old railways but judging by the sound of a train approaching, the railways were still in use. However, the sight of the robot at one of the rails caught their eyes. Just as it was in sight, a train suddenly sped past and blocked robot from the ninja's views temporarily but as soon as the train passed by, the five saw that the robot had vanished,

"Woah, robo-Houdini!" Mikey said but Leo saw something different,

"Wrong! Robo-hitchhiker!" Leo said as he pointed to the train that just passed by and sure enough the robot had used its jaw to latch onto the speeding train.

"We'll never catch it now!" Mikey said as though he thought they had already failed this mission but Master Splinter once again offered wise words of advice,

"Never say never, my son. There is always a way forward." Master Splinter said and Raph felt the need to comply,

"Ya got that right, sensei. Hitchhiker, huh? Well, two can play at that game!" Raph said and as he did at that moment, another train sped by in the same direction as the one that the robot hitched a ride on, Raph then jumped up and used his sai to stab the roof of the speeding train and pulled along with no signs of stopping,

"What a maniac!" Leo shouted but then Splinter followed suit and jumped onto the roof of the same train,

"Yeah… but sensei seems to approve! Wait for us!" Donnie shouted and at that, the other three turtles leapt onto the speeding train in almost the exact same fashion as either Raph or Splinter.

They didn't have to wait long to get off however, as the robot that hitched a ride on the other train had let go and landed on the ground with no damage at all and then proceeded onward once again. Seeing the robot up ahead, Raph and Splinter decided that now was the time to get off,

"There's our stop!" Raph shouted and then he along with the other four ninjas jumped off the moving train with no damage done to them either and then once again gave chase to the robot. There was a small opening in the wall that the robot had no doubt created and had gone through and the five ninjas followed through. Unknown to the turtles, for them it would be the first time their adventures had horrors that needed to be overcome.

As they exited the hole on to the other side of the wall, they came across a working sewer system, a river of sewer water flowing past them as they stood on a dry platform. Further ahead, they saw the runaway robot walking in the opposite direction of the water flow. But now the horrors revealed themselves as another of the robots appeared from one of the tunnel's corners and into their line of sight. What made this robot different however, was that its jaws and talons had blood covering them.

"Woah! Who invited him?" Mikey asked and Raph answered first,

"I got it!" Raph shouted and then threw one of his shuriken that he kept hidden in his belt. The shuriken sliced right through the robots head and as it fell onto its side, Raph and Mikey high-fived each other (or rather high-three-d) but it was not over yet as the now damaged and bloodied robot got back onto its feet,

"This is not good, guys." Leo said and it got worse when a whole legion of the same small robots walked towards them including their own runaway robot that had joined the fray, their runaway robot being the only one that didn't have blood covering it.

"And it keeps getting worse! These things are covered in blood, and it seems they're a lot tougher than the ones before!" Donnie said and soon the five found themselves surrounded by blood and tech.

"Yeah, and there's a lot more of them too." Raph said but by then, the fight had just begun.

The five leapt into the chaos and so too did the snapping robots, even though they built with better armour, it still didn't change the methods or results of how they dealt with them before, and as before, Raph stabbed each robot with his twin sai, Leo sliced through robots with his twin katana, Donnie and Mikey bashed with their blunt weapons, and so too did Master Splinter. The blood soaked robots may have had numbers on their side, but the five ninjas had skill to more than compensate.

Soon, the fight quieted down as the sewer ground became littered with broken and smashed robots, but the fight was truly over when Raph smashed the last remaining robot. The fight now over with, and the robots being completely useless now, the turtles realized they now had no way tracking down whoever it was who made them.

"So much for tracing them back to their source." Leo said as he sheathed his katana. But Splinter had a different way of tracing them, although he grimaced at what he suspected if they did continue to use this method of tracking,

"My sons, there may yet be another way." Master Splinter said which gained the attention of the four turtles,

"Those robots that attacked us were covered in blood and…" Master Splinter then breathed in through his nose, "…it appears to be human blood." Mikey let out an audible gulp at hearing this as he suddenly became nervous and upon seeing this, the other three mentally agreed and Master Splinter continued,

"Those robots have left a literal trail of blood from the direction they came from." Splinter said as he pointed at said trail of blood that was in the direction headed opposite of the sewage flow.

"I have an awful feeling that the trail is going to lead to some horrific scenes. My sons, I will not judge or blame the four of you if you choose to turn back now." Master Splinter said. The four turtles now had a decision to make. Continue onward, or turn back. Leo was reluctant to answer, but when he did, he was clear, even though he was a bit shaky,

"Sensei, as much as would like to turn back now, I feel like I can't. I'm going forward." Leo said and even though he was beginning to get nervous, his words helped steel his resolve, which also helped his brothers as well,

"Heh, guess you've earned the nickname 'Fearless Leader' after all, bro!"

"Leo, you can count me in as well."

"Dude, we're sticking together."

His sons resolve to stay together had given Splinter a small smile on his face, although if what he suspected was true, the thought wiped it off.

"Very well, my sons. We proceed." Master Splinter said rather reluctantly. But the decision was made and they proceeded to follow the trail of blood along the sewer floor.

8:02pm…

After the five had made the reluctant decision to proceed onward through the sewer tunnel, it became apparent that the trail of human blood was getting thicker with each passing step forward.

"Hey… uh… anyone else having second thoughts about this?" Mikey asked as he was getting more and more nervous the more the blood got thicker as they went on.

"Michelangelo, it is alright for you to be having second thoughts. I can smell it, the scent of human blood is getting stronger." Master Splinter said as he took a quick whiff of the air and despite the smell of sewer water, he could also smell the blood getting thicker. Soon however, they came upon a corner and when they turned the corner, the scene made them all stop in horror of what they saw.

The sight of the scene before them from was like something out of a horror movie; just a few paces in front of them were the mutilated bodies of three men in lab coats, all three were spread out along the tunnel, the first one was face-down on the ground and had a large red gap in his back like something took a bite out of it, his left hand was missing causing more blood to steadily seep out. The second dead man was lying on his side and had multiple bite marks and bloody tears on his legs, his ribs and ribcage were showing due to his torso and chest being savagely ripped apart. And the third man was also lying face-down, his left leg was separated from his corpse, his right arm hanging loose from the shoulder and his jaw was hanging off the rest of his skull. All of which coated each of them with their own and quite possibly each other's blood.

This was the first time the turtles had seen death and mutilation in real life, and all four had similar reactions to the scene; Leo stood wide-eyed and he momentarily forgot where he was, the image of this will remain in his memories forever. Raph was stunned and didn't realize he took a few steps back, his mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something but no sound came out. Donnie very nearly fainted at the horrific sight and used the wall to support himself. Mikey had seen violent scenes in some of his comics before but here and now he resisted the urge to vomit as he also stood wide-eyed in complete disbelief. Splinter had seen death and misery before but even he had to admit to himself that this was the most horrific thing he had ever seen and he also momentarily forgot that his four sons saw what he was seeing as well and when he realized this, he gave his next order,

"We must press on, my sons." Master Splinter said with his held low and as he said this, the turtles minus Mikey were snapped out of their horror-filled daze and before they proceeded onward, Leo recognized that Mikey was still not out of his daze and gently eased his brother forward and did his best to make sure Mikey did not look at the bodies as they walked past them. Soon however, the five had moved past the bodies and came upon another corner and the bodies were out of sight unless they turned around.

"My sons, I can smell it; death is all around us." Splinter announced, seeing as there was no way to avoid it now.

"Sensei… I…. we-I…." this was the first time Splinter had seen Raph lost for words and encouraged him to say what he wanted to say without scolding him for use of bad language,

"Say what is on your mind, Raphael. I will not scold you if you use bad language." Splinter said as he tried his best to reassure his son(s),

"We got this far… we-I don't want to let it end like this…" Raph said as he was still very much distracted by the scene he left,

"I feel the same way, Raph." Leo said and placed a shaky hand on Raph's shoulder,

"…me… too…" Donnie said hesitantly

"…" everyone turned to Mikey as he didn't say anything and assumed he wanted to go home, which they didn't blame him for,

"Mikey, you don't have to stay if don't want to. We understand if you can't." Leo said and Mikey wanted to say something but could only open close his mouth and shake his head slowly,

"Alright… Donnie why don't you take him home. You can stay with him if you wish." Leo said and Donnie was about to obey but,

"No… no… I want… to stay with you guys… sure I'm… scared but… I'll be more so if you guys aren't with me as well…" Mikey said rather weakly but his decision had been made and nothing was going to stop him.

"Very well, my sons. But I warn you, the scent of death is everywhere, it would not surprise me if we find more scenes like the one we just saw." Master Splinter said as he desperately hoped they would change their minds about going forward but Leo disproved this,

"Sensei, we know you want for us to turn back and head home now, heck, we want to turn back and head home now. But… we… just can't… I'm… not sure if I can put this into words but… want to stick together and whoever has done this, we want to serve them justice." Leo said and even though he himself couldn't describe it, he was determined to carry out this mission to its conclusion, and his brothers nodded in approval even though they were more scared than determined. Seeing this, Splinter gave the order to continue and the five rounded the corner.

The next sight was little less horrific than the first, although the sight of a woman wearing a lab coat lying face-up with her throat and right leg torn out, was still gruesome, but still they walked on, the fear may have settled in for the four turtles but they would not back down, they walked past the blood soaked corpse and down the sewer tunnel. The further they walked, the more another corpse came into sight, this one of a man lying face-down, also wearing a lab coat with his left hand separated from his bloody body and his intestines ripped open and spilled out. But still the five pressed on but not before a quick glance sent in the direction of the unfortunate person. The blood trail continued at the next corner unfortunately, the mutilated female corpse again with a lab coat and lying face-up had her chest ripped outward showing her torn lungs. Next to her body was a remote like device lying on the ground with some blood spatter. The five ninjas pressed on, the four turtles getting more and shakier all the while, but as they continued to follow a blood trail, for the first time, the trail made no sense as it seemingly went behind a wall and not on it.

"Curious." Splinter said as he examined the blood seemingly going behind the wall, and Donnie knelt down to take a closer look. After a moment, he came to a conclusion,

"Guys, I think this wall is fake." Donnie concluded and Splinter agreed.

"So then, how do we get behind it?" Raph asked and immediately something clicked within Donnie's mind. He walked over rather reluctantly to the female corpse,

"Donnie. What are you up to?" Leo asked and Donnie answered as he tried his best to ignore the dead woman lying mutilated on the ground,

"This remote is what I'm after." Donnie said as he picked up the blood spattered remote. He then walked over to the wall and on a whim, he pointed the remote at the wall and pressed the only button on it. In response, the sound of humming could be heard on the other side of the wall. After a moment, the humming stopped and the wall opened like a sliding door to reveal a hidden elevator. The elevator however had a two occupants inside, both covered in blood and lying dead sitting on the floor and leaning on one of the walls. They both had their stomachs and heads bitten and torn in various places. The thought of going into that elevator made all five ninjas grimace and their stomachs churned but their decisions to press on had already been made and so they stepped into the elevator, rather reluctantly and when they all stood inside, Donnie reached over to the elevator controls,

"I suspect we might find answers on the top office level." Donnie said,

"Then let's go." Leo said and with that, Donnie pressed the button that would lead them to the top floor and they all readied themselves for another potential life or death situation.

8:10pm… Stocktronics Top Floor…

The elevator pinged which signalled that they had arrived at the top floor. And not a moment too soon, as the uncomfortable silence was getting more prominent the further up they went. The moment the elevator doors opened, the four turtles quickly steeped out, not wanting to be inside that elevator any longer than they had to, and Splinter followed suit for he felt the same way. The office they steeped into was white everywhere, the walls, the ceiling, the floor and the desk, all in different shades of white, It also had large windows at the side which revealed that they were not that high up as it became apparent that they were on the top floor of a building that had four floors above ground level. However it was the electronic sliding doors that caught their attention the most. Their lying on the ground was another mutilated corpse, this time of a woman in a lab coat lying face-up with her sides bitten into and ripped out, her left leg hanging off only being held on by skin, and her left leg was caught in the sliding door, preventing it from closing.

"It looks as though all those people came from here." Leo said a bit slower than his usual speaking pace.

"But why? What were they doing here? Did they work here? Were those robots here as well? Is that what they were running from?" Donnie asked,

"But again, why?" Leo asked,

"I have a feeling that when we find the answer to that, we may find out who built these things and why." Splinter said and with that, walked over to the door with the corpse's leg caught in it, and being respectful to the dead, he opened the door and removed the leg from the door, and proceeded onwards. His sons followed after, but were a little apprehensive to move so close to the mutilated body, Mikey even more so. But they nonetheless proceeded onward and left the body behind, this time the electronic sliding being allowed to close properly without the body hindering it. The five were given a brief break and let out a sigh of relief, since the new room they walked into had no mutilated bodies, or even a blood trail for that matter. It was just a large white room with a large computer terminal and three doors, one of which led to the office room they had just exited.

When Donnie saw the large terminal, he immediately raced for it, his mind lit-up with the idea to use one for the first time in his life and because he thought it would shed some light on the mystery of these robots,

"Guys, I think this computer can give us an idea about these robots." Donnie said and as he sat at the computer, Raph just had to ask,

"Why would ya think that Donnie?" he asked,

"Well, these things attacked these people for a reason, and I think that reason is because they might have known something about them." Donnie answered as he typing away at the computer in order to try and hack into its files for answers.

"Alright Donnie, you continue to try to get into the computer's files, guys, we need to keep a look out as he does so." Leo ordered his other two brothers and they complied as they spread out to the three doors.

8:13pm…

It had taken only about a minute or so, but eventually Donnie successfully hacked into the computer,

"Guys, I'm in!" Donnie shouted,

"Good work, my son." Splinter praised as he continued to watch one of the doors alongside Mikey, as Raph kept his eye on the door they walked through and Leo had his eyes on the other door. Donnie meanwhile proceeded to speed-read through any file he could find, most were seemingly unimportant like finances going well, plans to build another lab in another part of the country. However one such file made Donnie flinch as he realized what was happening,

"Guys, you have to this…" Donnie said and his brothers and sensei reconvened around him to see what it was that he found,

"What is it Donnie?" Leo asked,

"As I was looking through their files to find some answers, I may have found answers to all of them…" Donnie said and with a quick few taps of the computer, a file of a blueprint popped up onto the screen. The blueprint was of the very same robots they had been fighting, the chilling design of the sharps jaws and talons were unmistakeable.

"This building is where the robots were made." Donnie said and his brothers stood wide eyed at the screen, and Donnie continued to type away, and a new pop-up came up onto the screen and for Donnie, things started to fall into place,

"Guys, I know what is going on!" Donnie said a little panicked,

"What is it, Donatello?" Splinter asked and Donnie answered as he began typing away at the computer again,

"Well, for starters, these robots are called Mousers." Donnie said,

"Mousers?" Leo said, a little confused at why they were called such a thing since they didn't resemble mice in the slightest,

"Mark-One Ultra Shadow Execution Robotic Sentries. M.O.U.S.E.R.S." Donnie clarified. And then turned to explain what else he found,

"I don't know the specific reason as for why whoever it is who is making them, but they're going to use the Mousers' incredible biting power to eat through the supporting foundations of whatever building they come across in the city." Donnie said and Splinter and Leo knew what this meant, Raph had some idea but Mikey was still slightly out of it,

"So if they do what you just said they will do…" Leo said and Donnie finished his sentence,

"Then no matter what, the buildings won't be able to support themselves. Buildings without their supporting foundations will start collapsing left and right! And this place can mass produce these Mousers."

"You mean this place can cripple the entire city?" Raph asked,

"Yeah. But fortunately, the Mousers can only be operated by a mother computer, if we find that and destroy it, the Mousers will automatically shut down." Donnie said,

"But then, why did they destroy our old home?" Mikey asked from out of the blue,

"I don't think that was intentional. At that time, the Mousers were on a test run and it was a coincidence that our old home happened to be there." Donnie explained as he found that information about their previous runs.

"And what's to stop whoever built these things from doing this again?" Leo asked and Donnie contemplated this for a few seconds before he turned back the computer and started typing again,

"Well, from here, I can send these blueprints and plans to the police through an anonymous e-mail and then when they find whoever manufactured the Mousers, he or she won't be able to fix anything whilst in their custody." Donnie said and Splinter agreed,

"Good, you do that, Donatello." Splinter said and then Donnie continued on,

"I'm also going to see if…" just as Donnie said this the computer screen then showed another blueprint of the building and Donnie instantly knew where to go next,

"Here!" Donnie pointed to a large room, larger than the others, "This is where the Mousers are being made, and no doubt the mother computer is there as well. I'm also hacking into the security of this place. I can shut it down from here!" Donnie said as he typed away furiously. When he finished he stood up quickly,

"Come on, I've shut down the security, but it will reboot in less than two minutes." Donnie all but ordered and Leo complied,

"Then let's move." Leo said as he was now determined to end this nightmare they found themselves in. The five then proceeded out the door as Donnie showed them which way to go. As they exited the room and entered the hallway, they were hardly surprised to find two more mutilated bodies of lab workers, lying bloodied on the ground. But they were more concentrated on finding the mother computer and the manufacturer and run past the bodies, though Mikey was having trouble not looking shaky as he ran past them. They soon came across another electronic door that opened when they approached it. The doors revealed a very large dark room but in the dark, Splinter could still see inside, and the other four turtles just barely seeing in the dark,

"This is too quiet." Leo said and the others didn't like things as were as well,

"…um… guys? Anyone feel like this is a trap?" Mikey said and as he did, the lights blazed to life revealing all five of them and the electronic door shut themselves and locked the five inside,

"Intruders? Here to steal my secrets? You'll leave here with nothing! Not even your lives!" a voice sounded over a speaker and the five ninjas recognized it as a man speaking and saw that he was above them in a small room with large glass windows and as the man saw them, he was baffled by their appearances but instead of sounding shocked, he was more curious and meticulous sounding,

"What on earth are you five? Hmm… I suppose I'll have to dissect you to find out." The man said and with that, he used the computer he was standing at to activate what could only be described as gun weapons of some sort and they were pointed at the five mutant ninjas. One of the weapons glowed red at its point and fired a laser streak at the five ninjas. The ninjas scattered and dodged the laser with relative ease. Now the fight was on! All of the weapons were lasers and all fired on whatever target they came across, Leo jumped and ran from one shot, the shot missing its target, Mikey though he still had issues from the corpses still weighing on him, he was still nimble enough to not get hit, even with multiple lasers shooting at him, Raph sprinted across the room as two of the lasers missed their mark, Splinter jumped across the room as whatever laser fired at him never hit its mark, as Raph drew his twin sai from his belt, Leo did the same whilst in the shadows of a pillar he stood behind, he leapt out of the shadows and headed in Raph's direction,

"Raph, heads up!" Leo shouted and when Raph stopped in his tracks, Leo stood before him and raised his katana in defence against a laser that would've hit Raph. The laser hit the twin katana but Leo did not falter, he kept his katana raised and the laser was eventually shot back at itself causing the blaster to explode. Donnie meanwhile had pole-launched himself high and landed on one of the blasters, he then redirected it so it would point at the other lasers instead of his family, the laser shot at the other lasers and in one moment, Donnie had three blasters destroyed. He then opened a hatch from where he stood and tore out the wiring inside and then leapt off to safety on the ground as the blaster he was on sparked and whirled away until it eventually exploded. They five then ran towards the room where the man stood and were fighting against, stunned the man was completely baffled that whatever he was doing wasn't working,

"Impossible…" the man said and continued to fire another laser at one of the mutants which happened to be Raph who back flipped to dodge the laser blast and was now directly underneath the room above,

"Mikey, slingshot!" Raph shouted and Mikey complied, he ran and dodged the lasers and headed straight for Raph who interlocked his fingers to act as a springboard for his brother, and when Mikey hopped onto his brothers hands, Raph launched him up to room and Mikey clung to the glass directly in front of the man who was shocked to see him there. Mikey then pulled out his nunchucks and used them to smash the glass window and easily entered the room as the man inside tumbled back and onto the floor. Leo then leapt up into the room the same way Mikey entered and joined him,

"Whoever you are, your reign of terror is over!" Leo announced and soon the other three joined them and the man became surrounded by the five mutant ninjas,

"What are you?" the man said and the five got a good but Leo look at him, he was an African-American man who looked to be in his thirties and was smartly dressed in a work suit complete with a lab coat. Raph approached him and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, picked him up and off his feet and then slammed him against the wall behind him,

"We saw what yer Mousers did to those people. Yer not getting away with this!" Raph all but shouted and flipped the man over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground, hard. The man let out a grunt of brief pain, but despite that, the man grinned,

"So you know about by Mousers? Hehe, well, my team of engineers who helped me to make them were expendable and were loose ends." The man all but boasted, but Leo looked irked and pointed one of his swords at the man's face,

"Expendable? The way you had them killed was inhumane! You used your robots to massacre them, even as they ran for their lives! And you think their lives were 'expendable'?" Leo was angry when he heard what the man described them as and he wasn't alone in this since Raph and Donnie were also mad at his choice of words while Mikey stood horrified at his words while Splinter placed a comforting hand on his shoulder,

"It doesn't matter what he thinks. What matters is that when the police arrives, he will face justice for everything he has done, and everything he was going to do." Donnie said, which the man did not like one bit, he brought out a remote he had in his coat pocket and pressed a few buttons on it before Raph snatched it from him and smashed it against the ground,

"That's enough!" Raph shouted but the man just grinned at him,

"Ha! Too late! I've recalled each and every Mouser from their first mission! They'll be here any second, they'll tear you to pieces, or my name isn't Dr Baxter Stockman!" the man who called himself Dr Stockman announced and Leo looked towards Donnie,

"Donnie?" Leo asked and Donnie knew what he wanted for him to do and didn't waste time, he raced to the computer,

"Luckily, this appears to be the mother computer… I can try to shut them down here…" Donnie said as he looked a little nervous,

"Ha! You can't shut them down! You need a password for each and every one of them!" Dr Stockman said as he grinned, "You also can't destroy the terminal either, it is made out of grade five titanium, it would take at least two bombs to destroy it!" said Dr Stockman as he felt bold that he was going to succeed, "You're doomed, listen…" as he said this, the sound of metallic footsteps could be heard, then just a second later, the door behind them opened to reveal a whole armies worth of Mousers approaching them and as they looked out the broken window, they saw the doors they entered through open to reveal another armies worth of Mousers entering the factory. Donnie typed away furiously but the Mousers were still approaching and snapping their jaws at them, ready to strike,

"Donnie… now's the time…" Leo said as they were getting closer and closer but Donnie was having no success and when Raph let go of Dr Stockman to stand with his brothers, Dr Stockman backed away slowly and bolted for the door when he had the opportunity. When he reached for the door, he pressed the electronic lock to shut it,

"You should never have matched wits with me!" Dr Stockman taunted as the door shut,

"He's getting away!" Mikey shouted and tried to run for the door, but the Mousers were in his way and looked to attack if he got too close.

"Let him go, we've got bigger problems…" Raph said and the Mousers were getting closer still, and soon they were surrounded by Mousers, and the sheer number of them meant that no-one, not even the five mutant ninjas would be able to get out unscathed,

"At least we'll go out fighting!" said Raph but Mikey didn't like that idea,

"Actually, I don't want to go out at all!" Mikey said and as he did, Donnie came across something incredibly dangerous to use on the computer and with no time to think, Donnie typed as fast as he could and then finally with the press of the final button, the Mousers suddenly stopped where they stood. Their yellow eye pieces turned red and the other four took it as a sign that he put them on standby. As if to confirm this, Leo gently poked one of the nearby Mousers with the tip of his sword and grinned at the thought that Donnie had shut them down. Leo, Raph and Mikey all cheered at Donnie's accomplishment but Splinter just looked worried at the look that Donnie was giving him,

"Donatello, you have shut down those mechanical monstrosities, why do you look so worried?" Splinter asked and Donnie was all too quick to answer,

"I wasn't able to shut them down sensei! They're still active!" Donnie announced but Raph just picked up a Mouser as if to debunk what Donnie just said,

"They look pretty shut down to me!" Raph said, but Donnie was still worried,

"The only way I could stop them was to initiate a self-destruct sequence!" Donnie said and Raph immediately dropped the Mouser in response and then as if on cue, the Mousers started smoking,

"Which means… LET'S GET OF HERE!" Raph shouted and the other four had no argument and all five leapt out of the broken window and landed on the ground and with no time to spare or think, they raced for the open door and left the factory, and not a moment too soon, as they left the factory, the door shut behind them and just then all of the Mousers exploded, destroying the factory in one blast. The explosion rocked the whole building and the five ninjas realised that the Mousers were all over the inside of the building to do that.

"We must escape now!" Splinter announced and needed no further arguments, the five raced for the office area where they entered. As they ran, the building started to crumble all around them in a much faster pace than their old home, but when they reached the office area, they found the way blocked by debris.

"Great! What do we do now?" Raph asked and when Splinter saw where the debris came from, he gave a solution,

"We go up." Splinter said and all four turtles looked up see a hole on the ceiling that seemed to lead outside.

"LET'S GO!" Leo shouted and using the desk as a foothold, they jumped through the hole in the ceiling and climbed up through it and onto the roof of the building. However the building they were on was now unstable, there was no time to waste, and seeing that there were other rooftops nearby, they wasted no time and quickly leaped across rooftop to rooftop until there were a safe distance away and not a moment too soon, as the building they escaped from suddenly erupted into a pillar of fire that exploded out of all the windows and through the roof. The fire endangered the other buildings as well but the sound of police arriving signalled that the fire would soon be under control eventually.

"Phew! That was cuttin' it close!" Raph said and his brothers also let out sighs of relief but Leo voiced his concerns,

"But now all the evidence is gone… the police won't find anything once the blaze is put out. Even if they find the bodies inside." Leo said but then Donnie spoke up,

"Not necessarily. Whilst I was giving them the blueprints and other files through an anonymous tip, I also gave them tips on where to find the bodies in the sewers. Though with the Mousers exploding, it is likely their murders will go unsolved, since we couldn't stop Dr Stockman." Donnie said and Splinter placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder,

"Do not fret, my son. At least they will be found and identified. It is better than not being found at all and left to rot in a sewer." Said Splinter, "Now, we should go home now." He then said and the four turtles never thought that the sound of home ever sounded so good before, so without further ado, the five raced across the rooftops and headed for home.

8:26pm…

Dr Stockman must have ran far enough, for when he stopped, he was in the middle of a New York alley away, but even then he could still see the destruction of his building, since the blaze lit up the sky as fire crews were desperately trying to contain the blaze.

"It doesn't matter… no-one could've survived that!" Dr Stockman said out loud but then from out of nowhere, a deep gruff voice answered him,

"Are you so sure of that?" the deep voice said and when Dr Stockman turned to see who it was, he was less than impressed with who it was,

"You! What do you want, Hun?" Dr Stockman asked. The man he called Hun was huge. Over six foot and the size of the muscles on his arms probably meant he could have no trouble punching his way through walls. He was blond and had a wolf-tail hairstyle. His face was stoic as he asked,

"Having trouble, Dr Stockman?" the man called Hun said,

"Trouble? No! Everything is proceeding exactly as I planned it!" said Dr Stockman and then Hun proceeded to grab Dr Stockman by his uniform and lifted him up off his feet with more ease than Raph did. He brought up Dr Stockman so that his face was level with his own.

"Then perhaps you would like to explain this 'plan' to the Master." Hun said and when he did, Dr Stockman looked surprised,

"What? But… he isn't scheduled to arrive here for three days yet!" Dr Stockman said,

"Lucky for you then. He has arrived early, ahead of schedule." As Hun said this, Dr Stockman went pale, he thought that in three days he could buy himself some time to hide away from the Shredder but the thought of facing him now made him as white as a sheet. Seeing the fear in his eyes, Hun simply walked into the shadows of the alley with Dr Stockman locked in his grip,

"NO, no! Unhand me at once!" Dr Stockman begged but Hun didn't reply and soon the alley became empty as Hun left Dr Stockman, treating him like a prisoner now.

8:35pm… New York City… The Lair…

For the five ninjas, it had been a long night. However when they entered their home, they felt their bodies got lighter. The reality of what had been happening in one night suddenly made the four turtles want to collapse in exhaustion. Though exhaustion wasn't the right word to describe it.

"My sons, I believe there is something you have to say." Master Splinter said and although they did want to say something, it was difficult for them to put into words. Moments later, it was Mikey who was first to say what was on his mind,

"There… was… so much… blood…" Mikey said as he held his down and looking stunned beyond belief,

"I can't believe it… he was really going to kill so many people…" Donnie said, he always knew that technology has been used to kill before, but seeing the results for the first time and seeing what might have happened if they didn't stop him,

"I don't think I… could've gone through the sight of what we saw in the sewers alone… I wanted to…" even though Leo didn't say, the others knew what he was thinking; he wanted to go home,

"That… ugggghhh… he's still out there… he could do this again…" Raph said, not wanting to see sights of horror again.

"I know, and we've got to find him and bring him to justice." Leo said and although his brothers didn't at first, they nodded in agreement.

"Very well. Since you feel the need to stop this… Dr Stockman, I will not stop you. Though it does mean that you will have another enemy to fight against." Master Splinter said. The others realized this as soon as he said those words and it was true, for it was not only Dr Stockman they decided to make an enemy out of, but also the aliens that they saved April from.

"For now, a good night's rest will do us good." Master Splinter said and with that, the four turtles decided to turn in for he night, albeit slowly.

8:44pm… New York City… Foot HQ…

The Foot HQ was a large skyscraper that could easily be passed off as just another one of the city's many towers and skyscrapers. Easy then to hide your organisation in while the population are none the wiser. Inside at the top of the skyscraper however stood a Japanese style temple made completely out of wood and coloured red and it was inside the temple that Dr Stockman found himself, trying to explain (rather nervously), about the destruction of the Mousers and the complete mission failure to his Master: The Shredder

"… and so… as any fool can see… the whole… thing was simply a… minor setback…" once again, he described the mission failure as a minor setback and it was then that the Shredder had had enough of the words 'minor setback'. He grabbed a gauntlet with two sword-like blades elongated at one end. He put the gauntlet on and pointed the blades at Dr Stockman, who flinched at the sight,

"You must pay the price for failure, Dr Stockman." The Shredder said as coldly as his dark voice would allow. And it was then that Hun, who had been standing next to the Shredder like a bodyguard, had approached Dr Stockman and only stopped to stand behind him, then before Dr Stockman could turn behind to look at him, Hun grabbed his arms and pinned them on his back, preventing him from defending himself. The next thing he knew was that the Shredder was now standing directly in front of him, his bladed gauntlet raised and then a split second later, Dr Stockman felt his blood gushing out of where his left eye had been, the pain caused him to scream in agony as his blood splattered the floor below.

"You are sorely mistaken if you think you got the worst of it. Unfortunately for me, I still need you to accomplish my goal. But make no mistake, for if you fail me again, your next punishment will be much more severe." The Shredder said with stoic face and then Hun proceeded to drag Dr Stockman away and out of the temple, ignoring Dr Stockman's pleas. Once the two left the temple, The Shredder was momentarily left alone as it was then that a lone man all dressed in black from his balaclava down to his boots, had entered from the shadows of the temple and carrying what looked to be a Mouser head, the lone man approached the Shredder and bowed,

"We have the image you requested, Master." The lone man said and then pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it which activated a screen that lowered itself from the roof. The screen activated, showing a heat signature image of five strangely shaped individuals.

"So, the last remaining image the Mouser optics recorded." The Shredder said as he saw the heat signature image. Luckily it didn't show the image in great detail but that didn't matter to Shredder.

"These are the ones responsible!" Shredder said and then leapt forward and sliced through the screen with his bladed gauntlet in a temporary act of anger and when the screen lay shredded and useless, The Shredder acted as if he didn't have a care. Which he didn't.

* * *

 **Me: hey there! So I know Casey's intro was a little lackluster, but he will get the attention he needs in the next chapter. GOONGALA!**


	5. A Good Morning, A Bad Evening

**me: Hello readers! This is going to be a rather dark chapter for a certain favourite character. But at least the four turtles and Splinter aren't one of them!**

* * *

April 25th 2012… 9:43am… New York City… The Lair…

To say that the four turtles had an uncomfortable night was an understatement. Leo tried to meditate in order to help him relax, but the event that occurred that night before and at Dr Stockman's lab kept replaying in his mind; the horrifically mutilated corpses, the bloodlust and terrorism from a mad doctor and the thought that said doctor was still out there somewhere. When Leo eventually fell asleep, he could only close his eyes and not drift off into dreamland and his body only relaxed a little. Raph wasn't much better either, even though the chair down at the ground floor provided some level of comfort for him to sleep, he also could not stop thinking about badly bloodied remains of the human scientists but he also had a nightmare about how those images could've been him and his family had they not escaped their old home. Donnie also had trouble sleeping since all his thoughts were on how something as brilliantly technical as a Mouser could be used for something so horrible, but what terrified him even more was when he was forced to initiate the Mousers overload sequence that resulted in the destruction of the lab. Sure he was glad that his genius intellect saved a lot of lives in the city but he also worried that the same destruction of the lab could very well have hurt, maybe even killed some people who might've been in the building or outside of it at the time. Mikey also had nightmares of that night. Even though he fell asleep a lot easier than his brothers did, but that didn't stop his nightmares of the night. So much blood, and going by what they learned about the humans that lost their lives, a lot of fear as well. Mikey ended up waking up at around 3am shivering in a cold sweat. Master Splinter however, had used his mastery over meditation to push the events of that night into the back of his mind, and even though he still had bad images of back then, they were nowhere near as bad as they could've been, unlike Mikey's.

Morning training wasn't any better, the level of concentration coming from the four turtles was undeniably poor. Leo's katas were messed up and riddled with mistakes that a child would easily make, Raph's punches and kicks were had little to no effort put into them, Donnie had trouble keeping his staff upright, and Mikey who almost didn't show up for morning training had issues keeping his nunchucks fluid and almost kept hitting himself with them. And Splinter knew why; the events that happened the previous night was weighing heavily upon their minds. He was not surprised by this since it would be tough for an adult to get through the night without the discomfort of those kinds of images in their heads, and for teenagers to go through what they had gone through, Master Splinter couldn't bring it upon himself to punish them for their lack of concentration. Especially since it would probably do more harm than good.

Breakfast was also pretty much depressing, since Splinter was the only one who ate. The thought of eating algae and worms again probably wasn't very nice for them and it was enough to make all four turtles skip breakfast.

And so here they all were at nearly quartet to ten in the morning, all depressed and the events of the previous night making them shudder every now and then, and if things were to progress, Splinter realized he was going to employ tactics he'd never thought he'd use. It was the type of tactics that involved a certain turtle with an orange mask and the complete opposite of Splinter saw himself as.

It was there they all were in the large open space of the ground level of the oval shaped Lair; Leo was sat meditating (unsuccessfully), Raph was weakly punching the dummy, Donnie was at his work desk just picking at the broken TV with a screwdriver and not actually fixing it, and Mikey was sat on a chair looking at a comic and not actually reading it. Bingo. With Mikey in his sights, Splinter walked towards him with the air of authority around him, which was weird considering what he had in mind for the turtles. He approached Mikey and stood directly next to him and Mikey was too lost in his thoughts to even notice him, this worried Splinter briefly as he always acknowledged his presence with a bright smile that Splinter usually returned with his own. He would have to actually place a hand on Mikey's shoulder to get his attention, which he did, and when he did, Mikey nearly jumped out of his shell with a startled yelp,

"YIKES! Sensei…"

"My apologies, Michelangelo. But I believe in light of the circumstances, I am going to need your assistance." Splinter said and this made Mikey looked at him as though he saw a ghost. Splinter never usually asked for anyone's assistance and when he did it was usually just for scavenging missions.

"Come with me, my son." Splinter said and Mikey didn't question it and just followed his sensei.

9:44am…

Mikey followed Splinter into the kitchen area where and when his confusion set in. It was a good step forward from the thoughts of blood and horror and Splinter aimed to take it a step further and help all his sons come to terms with the horrors of the night and then it would become just a part of their lives.

"I could probably sense your confusion from another part of the city, my son." Master Splinter said and Mikey most likely agreed with him,

"Well… yeah… you are Ninja Master…" Mikey said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world but then Splinter voiced his plan to Mikey much to his surprise,

"The reason I need your help Michelangelo, is because I believe you are the only one here who can accomplish this." Master Splinter said and with that, his plan was set into motion.

10:24am…

Mikey was peeking out from the kitchen to lock onto his targets with a grin that meant he means business. And he also had his Sensei's permission to do this, which meant nothing will stop him now. Splinter had then chosen to exit the kitchen, happy that with Mikey's next actions, their home would have a normal family atmosphere about it and not the dark depressing kind.

"Have fun, Michelangelo." Master Splinter said and he realized the moment he said those words that he doesn't usually say that to any of his sons but when he did to Mikey this time and the resulting grin made his smile grace his furry face.

"Ooooh, I will!"

"And make sure you involve all three of your brothers."

"Don't worry, Sensei, our plan will work!"

"Of that, I am sure." And with that, Splinter left the kitchen.

Mikey stood peeking out of the kitchen to put the plan into action. And with the balloons he found scavenging once upon a time ago, he will succeed. He would have to thank Donnie at some point for reconfiguring their plumbing so that they could get clean water to use however they liked.

Mikey exited the kitchen, not bothering to hide his wide smile but made sure his weapons of choice were well hidden behind his back. His first target: the hot-headed Raphael. He approached his target and stopped at a throwing distance, Raph was busy still weakly punching at the dummy and so didn't seem to realize that Mikey was eying him that was until,

"HEY RAPH!" as soon as Mikey shouted his name, Raph could only turn his head slowly in Mikey's direction when all of the sudden, a balloon smashed against his face, exploding its watery contents all over himself and abruptly stopped Raph in his tracks. Mikey grinned at this and joyfully bounced around on the spot with a water balloon in each hand,

"Dr Prankenstein strikes again!" Mikey announced which also caught the attention of Leo and Donnie who looked at the scene with absolute surprise on their faces and completely lost for words. Raph meanwhile saw red, and Mikey imagined at that point that fire lit up Raph's eyes,

"Dude, you should see your face right now! Haha! You look soooo mad!" which was exactly the kind of reaction Mikey was aiming for, now for the next step of the plan to play itself out,

"Mikey, do you want to play a new game I just invented? It's called 'Does Mikey bend that way?'" Raph said as he growled and cracked his knuckles and thus began the cat and mouse scenario all around the Lair. Leo and Donnie looked just as lost for words as they had when it started and as they looked at the ensuing chaos running around the Lair, he also spotted Master Splinter leisurely wandering from his room to the kitchen, and ran over to approach him about the chaos, since he know doubt knew about it,

"Sensei, aren't you seeing this?" Leo asked and the answer from Splinter completely dumbfounded him,

"I don't see anything, Leonardo. Must be something in my eye." Splinter said as he calmly entered the kitchen, leaving Leo bewildered as Raph kept chasing Mikey with the attitude of a mad bull while Mikey merrily ran around with a smile as bright as the sun.

10:26am…

That little merry chase around the Lair courtesy of Raph and Mikey had put a little spring in Donnie's step. He was now working on the broken TV albeit slowly, but it was certainly better than only picking at it. It was seeing this that made Leo approach him at his work desk,

"You seem more active this morning, all things considering…" Leo said and Donnie knew he implied of the nightmare they all endured last night,

"Yeah… well… seeing Raph and Mikey going like Tom and Jerry has made me think 'Maybe things can be normal again?'. I don't know…" Donnie said with uncertainty but it was certainly better than keeping things bottled up,

"I know what you mean… and maybe you're right…" Leo said also uncertain,

"YOU KNOW IT, BRO!" Mikey suddenly burst out from completely out of nowhere behind them and just as quickly threw another water balloon at the duo at the desk, Leo just managed to lean back and avoid the projectile but Donnie wasn't fast enough and ended getting a face full of water for his troubles. Even working at a slow pace, Donnie still didn't like being interrupted in his work and so without thinking, a now mad Donnie joined a still very mad Raph in chasing Mikey with the aim of throwing him into sewer water as payback,

"YOUR NEXT LEO! DR PRANKENSTEIN MAKES HOUSECALLS!" Mikey out of the top of his lungs whilst enjoying the scene of both Raph and Donnie wanting to dish out some payback.

10:28am…

Seeing his brothers come out of their dark memories of the previous night had helped Leo push his own dark memories to the back of his mind. And so it was that he sat in his bedroom on the floor in a lotus position, meditating properly now. It was all well and good, he was now beginning to clear his mind despite the nightmare that was slowly creeping up in his mind, and before he knew it the flash of gore entered his mind and startled him out of his meditation. Leo let out a sigh of frustration before telling himself to

"Get your head together Leo, the nightmare is over." But it was then that Leo remembered something Master Splinter told him years ago…

 _October 1_ _st_ _… 2005… The Old Home… 9:55am…_

 _It wasn't a very good night for eight year old Leo; having nightmares about falling from a frightening height with no end in sight had not been friendly for him. During morning training he couldn't stop thinking about it and as a result, kept him distracted as Mikey knocked him over during sparring. This never happened before and while Mikey relished in his victory and then whining as Raph won their match, Leo was still in the confines of the nightmare. After practice, Master Splinter suspected that Leo had a nightmare the previous night. As a child, none of the children were good liars which was why it was easy to decipher the issue and provide them comfort with something that troubled them. So when Leo retreated to his room to be alone, it was just as easy for Splinter to realize that Leo was having bad dreams. Splinter approached Leo in his bedroom who was sat on his bed looking troubled from the nightmare,_

" _Bad dreams, Leonardo?" Master Splinter said and even though Leo knew acknowledged him, he didn't want to talk about it,_

" _Sensei… I don't feel like talking about it…" Leo said not looking at Splinter,_

" _I understand if you don't, my son. But just know…" at that point, Splinter sat on the bed at Leo's feet, "Bad dreams are only that; dreams. They cannot harm you even as you sleep, only scare you if you let them. Once a bad dream is over I would advise to not think about it unless you wish to talk about it first. Either way will help you through the day until the bad dream becomes nothing."_

April 25th… 10:29am… 2012… The Lair…

Master Splinter was right then and it would also serve to help him now. Dark memories were also like nightmares in your sleep if you allow it, and he allowed it to creep up on him during meditation, not this time.

Leo resumed to meditate in lotus position, and began to clear his mind. Things were going well again until these dark memories began to once again up on him-

SPLASH!

Leo awoke with a start to find himself covered head to toe in water with the remains of a balloon at his lap and a grinning Mikey at his doorframe (with no door, mind you). Leo couldn't believe it, everyone knew that only his Sensei can interrupt his meditation without trouble but anyone else who dared to try was guaranteed to get a few bruises. And so with that,

"Dude, you made it easy!" Mikey said and Leo let out a low vengeful sounding growl and leapt up from his lotus position and launched himself at Mikey who jumped away to allow Leo to continue chasing him alongside Donnie and Raph whilst he laughed and smiled throughout.

10:33am…

After a few more moments of cat and mouse between Mikey and his brothers, after which, Mikey was caught and his brothers began wrestling him to the ground and him slipping away only for the whole to repeat and repeat again, Master Splinter eventually called them over, at which point they stopped. When they stood before him, Mikey was beaming, whilst Raph, Donnie and Leo were looking peeved and although Master Splinter didn't show it, he was pleased with the results of his plan.

"My sons, I must ask; what are your thoughts now?" Master Splinter asked and the replies he got were,

"I think, THAT WAS EPIC!" from Mikey,

"Epic?! I think you need a new brain after that!" from Raph to Mikey,

"If he had one to begin with." Said Donnie which resulted in a loud "HEY!" from Mikey with a pout on his face,

"Sensei, I can't believe you let him do that!" Leo said which got Raph's attention,

"You what?!"

"I assure you, my sons, that I instructed Michelangelo to perform this task with good reason." The turtles minus Mikey were baffled by those words and before they could even ask, Splinter spoke first, "What of the dark memories brought to you from last night?"

It was at that moment that something clicked into all four of the turtle's minds. Sure, they had been thinking about the horrors from last night now but this time they were nowhere as bad as they had been before. They had been so focused on Mikey and Mikey hadn't been thinking at all that those gruesome images became nothing more than a bad memory that somewhere along the line of this morning alone had helped them move on. The images were still there inside their minds but they were no longer dwelling on them.

The four turtles at looked one another as if realising this, but Mikey just smiled with ignorance on his face,

"Why are we all looking at each other?" Mikey asked and even though the response was a groan from his brothers, they also couldn't help but smile as well. Raph eventually grinned in Mikey's direction,

"Raph?"

"Come here, you!" Raph bellowed and as soon as he did, he had Mikey in a headlock and gave him a friendly noogie,

"Ah, Raph!" Mikey squirmed but made no indication of distress or of wanting Raph to stop and soon was laughing and Raph joined in on the laughter as did Leo and Donnie. The sight of his four sons coming together to smile and laugh together through a dark time made Splinter smile with pride and happiness.

11:02am…

What started as a depressing morning had taken a turn for the brighter; Leo was now meditating peacefully inside his room, Raph was now hitting the dummy hard with proper punches and kicks, Donnie worked hard on the broken TV and at his current pace it wouldn't be long until he fixed it, much to Mikey's delight, and Mikey himself was reading his comics with renewed excitement while also plotting his next prank on his brothers (mainly Raph). It was this sight that assured everyone including Splinter that everything was going to be alright which certainly helped lighten the atmosphere of the Lair. The atmosphere only got more family friendly when Mikey stopped reading and began to irritate Donnie about how "Awesome it is to how the TV again." And "Just think, with all this space, we could have a whole stack of TVs!" stuff like that. Donnie's response was to hand Mikey a hammer, a nail and a sign that read 'Sewer Sweet Sewer' on it.

"Here TV-head. Do something useful. Put this up somewhere." Donnie said and Mikey groaned at the thought of working but nonetheless did as he was asked. After all it was just a fifteen second or so job. At one side of the Lair on the wall, Mikey decided it was as good a place as any to put a 'Sewer Sweet Sewer' sign, and proceeded to hammer in the nail. He slammed the nail with the hammer but the nail didn't even crack the wall. Confused for a second but not beaten, he tried again; same result. He groaned in frustration at the very idea that a wall was beating him and so began beating the nail with the hammer. Success! He succeeded in bending the nail into uselessness! But Mikey was not going to give up, he was going to let a wall beat him! So he momentarily retreated from the wall, leaving the sign behind and approached Donnie's work desk whilst Donnie was away momentarily for some reason. He then walked back to the wall with a sledgehammer and a steel spike used to keep tents in place,

"Alright, tough guy! Hehehe! Let's dance!" Mikey said in an accent that no-one probably knows exist and then slammed sledgehammer against the head of the spike and the sharp end went right into the wall and was probably never coming out again. Mikey definitely didn't let the wall beat him but unfortunately for the wall it was too much for it and began to crack and fall apart in front of Mikey's eyes.

"Uh-oh…"

The wall fell apart instantly but to Mikey's surprise the wall that fell apart revealed a large door sized pattern behind it. The noise of the wall falling apart had attracted the attention of the whole family and when they stood beside Mikey, Raph and Donnie were more than annoyed that Mikey may have just started the destruction of their new home. But once the dust settled and the pattern became clear to see, the family of five stood and stared,

"Woah, guys. Lookie what I found!" Mikey said and when Donnie got closer he quickly came to the conclusion that the door shaped pattern was exactly that; a door.

"It's a door of some kind." Donnie said,

"Be careful!" Leo whispered as he warned,

"Why are we whispering?" Mikey asked and as soon as he did, Donnie touched the door and the moment he did, the door slid open and released a very foul smell.

"Whew! That's some stank!" Donnie said as waved his hand in front of his nose in a vain attempt to repel the smell and Mikey couldn't help but grin at Donnie's choice of words,

"Don't look at me, bro. After all, he who smelt it dealt it!" Mikey said but paying him no mind, the family of five proceeded to enter the room behind the door. It was a very small room but the room had oddly shaped patterns going around what was apparently an egg-shaped room that lit up with a bright blue colour and on the ceiling was a large bright glowing white crystal. After taking a closer look at the blue glowing stuff on the walls, Mikey realized something,

"Hey, these are crystals. I found a bunch of these same crystals all over while I was cleaning up the Lair! They were all broken though." Mikey said but something still seemed off to Donnie,

"Where's the power source for this room! I don't see any wires or-"but Donnie was interrupted when the doors suddenly closed behind them, and trapped the five ninjas inside. Suddenly it began to feel like the room was moving up,

"Hey, are we moving?" Leo asked and the five looked up at nothing since up was the direction the room seemed to be going in.

"Hey, where is this thing even taking us?" Raph asked

"I have a feeling that when we know the answer to that, we will have more questions to be answered." Splinter replied.

11:04am…?

Soon the moving room that the five had concluded to be an elevator of sorts (though Donnie had a hard time believing it), and when said elevator did eventually stop, the door that initially kept them inside had opened, and the five walked out to find themselves in a dark room that was alight with the sunshine beaming through the slits in the wood covering the windows. The room appeared to be abandoned and when Donnie approached the rooms slide up door and opened it, the sight confirmed their suspicions of their location.

"So… the weird glowing chamber brings us up to street level?" Donnie said out loud to hear how it sounded, which sounded off. Though as he said this, Splinter took a few quick smells of the room,

"Hmm… this place has been abandoned for many, many years now." Splinter said as Donnie closed the door leading outside to avoid the possibility of being spotted by human eyes.

"Great, so… what should we use this place for?" Mikey asked and Raph answered,

"I don't know. But it seems awfully convenient if you ask me. First an abandoned part of the sewers leads to a large abandoned space for us to live in and then a newly discovered elevator leads us to an abandoned warehouse on the surface?" Raph said and after he did, it certainly raised questions among everybody in the room. Without questioning it however, they then made their way inside the newly discovered elevator that activated the moment they all stepped in and brought them all back into the Lair below.

Once they stepped out, Splinter spoke his thoughts on the matter,

"My sons, it would appear that our new home holds secrets of its own. We should keep an eye out for more of them." Splinter said and his four sons nodded in agreement.

5:55pm… New York City Streets…

Even if you weren't a homeless person living in New York City, life wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows even if the weather was nice today. Not being homeless just meant you had a roof over your head but that was it. Not being homeless didn't mean you were actually safe. This was something Casey Jones learned the hard way. He was currently living with his father who also owned a sports store below their apartment. However the store was on the rougher sides of the city, as it was a frequent spot for the Purple Dragons gang activity. As such, Casey and his father usually found themselves fighting off robbers looking to loot their store. Sometimes they would win but sometimes they would lose too. Weekends were usually a bad time for them, but today would prove to be the worst day of them all.

As it was still during the daytime, Mr Jones (Casey's father) continued to run his store like usual on a weekend; he got a few good customers this so far and Mr Jones hoped it would stay that way. But he knew well enough that even a good day like now can turn ugly in the next moment or so. He was also extremely worried for his son, Casey, who was upstairs in their apartment relaxing after hockey practise, and even though he knew Casey could handle himself during a fight like he taught him, it still didn't stop his worrying. Comes with the job of being a father. It was nearly six in the evening, and just about time to close the store and hopefully a peaceful evening followed by a peaceful night. But he should've none better. He had heard of many stores and local businesses being robbed and coerced by thugs calling themselves 'Purple Dragons'. If he was honest, he'd never heard of the gang name before and assumed it was a new gang in town. But whatever the case, it was clear that unlike the seemingly random nature of the crimes they'd committed, it was still clear that the attacks and robberies never occurred twice at the same building again, meaning something was very wrong.

Mr Jones' thought were justified however, when a group of nine consisted of four men and four women dressed in a variety of punk style clothing (and bad hair styles), led by the biggest man he has ever seen, he realized things were bound to get bad really quickly, especially since by the numbers alone, he was going to lose badly. But when the group of nine smashed his store door through and entered the shop, he sincerely wished his son would ignore it and hide. Only the large man entered the shop unarmed, the other eight intruders wielded heavy chains, pipes and bricks as weapons. When the largest man ever approached him, he nervously stood his ground behind the counter. But with the other man's massive body size it wouldn't matter. And it didn't matter, as the large man grabbed him over the counter, his two large hands alone covered Mr Jones' arms and pinned them into his sides, preventing him from taking action of any sort. It was at that moment that Casey opened the backdoor and rushed in the shop with the intention of helping his father,

"Dad!" Casey shouted which got the attention of all nine intruders and the man who had Mr Jones literally in his hands grinned,

"Hey kid, we're in the middle of talking 'business' here, so why don't you 'help' by seeing if our weapons are any good?" the large man said, and at that the other eight intruders turned their attention to Casey who then slowly backed away into the back room he came from and the other eight thugs approached him grinning at the thought of inflicting pain onto a kid.

"Now then, where were we?" the large man said as he then squeezed his hands around Mr Jones' body, "Oh yes, I remember. I was going to ask if you would like to sell ownership of your shop to the Purple Dragons!" as he said this, he continued to squeeze down on Mr Jones and he could feel the air leaving his lungs and he couldn't breathe properly, "I would hurry with an answer! I can't guarantee your boy's safety!" the large man said but Mr Jones just glared at him and gritted his teeth, "I like your defiance, but if you don't make a decision-"but the large man was cut off when he heard fighting coming from the back room and the sound of Casey smacking a thug with something wooden (probably a bat), the loud shout of "GOONGALA!" and other grunted noises of pain that didn't come from Casey, but his own group. But the large man didn't seem to care and just grinned,

"Well, it would appear your son has made the decision for you." And with that, the large man slammed Mr Jones headfirst into the ground with the force of a freight train. The result was Mr Jones lying lifeless on the ground, his neck bent in a way that showed he wouldn't be getting up alive. The large man just stood grinning at the murder he just committed… and enjoyed doing.

With his act of murder done, the large man walked away and toward the back room where his group was fighting Casey who was fighting valiantly.

Unbeknownst to Casey, who was fighting off the eight armed and dangerous Purple Dragons, his father had just been killed, but now that was unknown to him. As one Purple Dragon with a dragon tattoo on his face stepped forward to swing a pipe at Casey's head, Casey blocked the attack with the baseball bat he was using to defend himself and countered by using said bat to hit the man's left hip, the hit made the man stagger back, but at that moment a large shadow towered over him and when he turned to face whoever it was who was casting the shadow over him, a large fist slammed into his head and chest with the force of a charging rhinoceros. The punch sent Casey flying backwards and didn't stop until his back hit the wall behind him, the force of it, cracked the wall and Casey slumped to onto the floor, unconscious. Before he slipped into unconsciousness however, he overheard one of the thugs talking,

"What shall we do with him, Hun? Boss?"

"Leave him. Once we're finished here, we will put the fear into this city."

6:09pm…

The first thing Casey noted in his state was that he was in pain, a lot of pain. It was dark where he was, but whether or not it was because he was in a dark room or not, he wasn't sure. The pain was mostly centred on his head and chest. Another thing he noted was that he was breathing in some smoke. Perhaps his Dad was cooking! Dad? DAD! It was thoughts of his father that clicked in Casey's mind as the incident that happened came rushing back to him; the robbery, the threats, his fight with eight armed thugs and then finally the large hulk that towered over him. As soon as his mind registered this, he tried to force himself to stand, but he felt immobile. He then noted the smoke was getting thicker and that now he could also feel himself getting uncomfortably hot. Once he could feel the heat he asked himself _"Is our home on fire?"_ that question had abruptly forced Casey's eyes open and the first sight he saw was the smoke coming in through the closed door that led to the rest of the shop. Casey stood, though the pain was trying to force him to stay down, but Casey wouldn't let it. The smoke indicated that his home was on fire, his father was undoubtedly on the other side of the door and if not then surely he was out of the shop and no doubt he called for help. But Casey would escape first before help would come to save him from the fire. He approached the door and when he turned the doorknob and opened the door, his fears of his home being on fire were correct.

The moment the door was opened, the sight of flames engulfing the shop filled his entire vision. The flames brought with it a lot of smoke and ash that Casey was having trouble not breathing in as he turned his head to look around the now burning shop trying to see his father. He soon found him lying on the floor, the flames nearly reaching him. Thinking he must be unconscious, Casey braved the fire, and walked through the ash, smoke and fire to reach for his father.

"Dad? Dad, please get up. *cough* *cough*, we have *cough* to get out…" Casey said as he coughed out as much ash and smoke as he could and once he was standing next to his father, he crouched down and wrapped his father's left arm around his shoulders and lifted him up. He then proceeded to drag his father out toward the exit, assuming his Dad was unconscious.

"C'mon Dad, *cough* *wheeze*, let's go… *cough*" as Casey said this, he began to walk quickly over to the exit, the smoke and flames doing little to stop him.

Then to Casey's relief, the sound of sirens approached the shop, help was on the way! All he needed to do was to get himself and his father out of the burning building and then he will help his father recover.

6:10pm…

The moment Casey exited the building with his father, he wasted no time in breathing in as much clean air as he could as he continued walking away from their burning home. Once Casey was on the other side of the road, he gently placed his Dad onto the pavement and at that moment, the sirens turning out to be police and firefighters, Casey called for them.

Whilst the firefighters were preparing to put out the blaze, the police tended to the man on the ground as Casey explained what happened. He had only just started talking to one of the policeman when the other who began tending to his father checked his pulse and once he realized the man was dead, he slowly stood up and slowly walked towards Casey.

When Casey heard the other police officer approach him, he was hopeful to hear good news, but once he saw the officers grim face, his own face immediately fell into concern,

"Officer? What's wrong with my Dad…?" the officer he asked was hesitant but even so, he still spoke,

"Kid… I'm sorry…" those words alone made everything else silent for Casey but then the officers next words made him stop completely,

"…but… your Dad is… gone…"

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hoped you liked Casey's backstory. In a manner of speaking. But this is how Casey will meet up with the turtles eventually. Stick around to see how!**


	6. Accidental Meeting, and a Declaration

**Me: hello readers! I hope you like this chapter and I hope how Casey will make his first step as a vigilante. Enjoy!**

* * *

April 25th… 2012… New York City Rooftops… 11:11pm…

April had always wondered what happened to her reptilian rescuers ever since they rescued her from her abduction at the hands of aliens, heck she didn't even know their names, save for one: Donatello. When she thought of him, she was reminded of a high school geeky type of kid, except this one had martial arts training which to her made him cuter than from your ordinary high school geek. Though she didn't have to wait longer however. She had just changed into her PJs when she received a very unusual tapping at her bedroom window. When she approached her window and opened her bedroom curtains, she finally saw her green rescuers again, who waved a hello to her and she responded by doing the same and then opening her window step out onto the balcony.

"You guys! I thought I was never going to see you again." April said and Donnie was all too eager to respond,

"Sorry about that, April. Some things went kind of crazy the past couple of days…" Donnie said and it was then that April was reminded of something she was thinking of earlier,

"Oh, that reminds me! I never really learned any of your names, thanks to all the chaos that occurred… well, save for yours, Donatello." April said and it was then that the other three turtles joined in on the conversation,

"Well then, let's put a stop to... not knowing our names then!" Leo started out sounding confident but then ended up sounding hesitant for last choice of words but nonetheless began their introductions,

"I'm Leonardo. My brothers here just call me 'Leo'. You can as well if you wish." Leo said as he introduced himself, and at the mention of the word 'brothers', April suddenly found her attention caught,

"Wait, you guys are brothers?" April asked and Mikey responded with a wide smile,

"Of course we are! Been that way since the creation of pizza!" Mikey said and at the mention of pizza, his mouth watered as he imagined that delicious smell of pizza.

"Hmm, not quite the words I would have used, but yeah, we've been brothers since forever." Donnie said and then for whatever reason began to introduce himself, even though he knew that she knew his name but did it anyway,

"I'm Donatello… but you already knew that… but my bro's call me 'Donnie'." April smiled at his intro as he had a very visible pink blush appeared on his green face. Raph saw the blush as well, but thought that a human girl like April wouldn't go for a green mutant turtles like Donnie,

"I'm Raphael. Raph for short." He said as he introduced himself. Then once he noticed that Mikey was staring off into space and most likely imagining himself eating pizza again, he introduced his brother in a way that would no doubt bring Mikey out of his thoughts but also annoy him,

"Goofy here, has little to no brains." Raph said as he pointed his thumb towards Mikey and his sentence did annoy Mikey to the point of bringing him out of his thoughts of pizza,

"Hey! I've got brains! And my name isn't 'Goofy' either, fairy tale princess!" at that, Raph saw red as he thought of nothing more than throwing Mikey off the building,

"Oh, I'm gonna… CHUCK YOU OFF OF THIS BUILDING!" Raph shouted which had Mikey jumping off the balcony and onto the roof above and started running from a very short tempered Raph, "I'M GONNA SHELL-AC YOU!" he shouted as he chased Mikey across the building rooftop. Leo and Donnie just face-palmed at the not-so-stealthy-or-quiet-chase. So instead, Leo decided to introduce Mikey himself,

"The orange mask wearing turtle is, Michelangelo. And this is a recurring thing between the two; Mikey either calls Raph something that gets him chased or because of a prank that Raph didn't appreciate." Leo said almost oblivious to Mikey's screams and cries for help.

11:14pm…

It didn't take that long for Raph to cool down as he sat casually on the railings of the balcony, and that was only because Mikey was standing on the balcony with comical tears going down his face and a cartoonish bump on his head, most likely where Raph hit him. Mikey didn't really pay it any mind, the pain on his head would go away in a couple of moments. April though had to ask something about their long absence,

"So guys, you said that 'some things went kind of crazy the past couple of days'. If it's no trouble… what kind of crazy?" April asked and at that, the four turtles looked slightly grim, but Mikey answered first,

"Well, first we had our home destroyed by killer robots that we later found out were called 'Mousers', escaped through the sewers, got separated from our Sensei, moved to the surface, raced across rooftops and then we ran into you!" Mikey said as he recalled one crazy story,

"Really? So that's how you found me, by sheer coincidence… and you have a 'Sensei'? Like a Japanese Master?" April said and Leo knew that Mikey made a mistake in mentioning their Sensei,

"Yeah, and Mikey REALLY should NOT have said that!" Leo said as he pointed a stern glare at Mikey, who winced at said glare, but to April, something clicked,

"Oh, so that's how you got your martial arts training! And those masks make you look like ninjas or something!" April said as she put on an awkward smile but Mikey didn't seem to notice,

"Well… we ARE ninjas!" April went wide-eyed at the statement and began to think things over. After a moment of thinking, she voiced her thoughts,

"So… talking ninja turtles with a Japanese Ninja Master, all four turtles with names from the Italian Renaissance period, living in New York City somewhere and fighting evil robots and Aliens from who knows where…" April sounded a bit deadpan as she went on and even though it was the truth, even the four turtle ninjas had to admit that it sounded completely unbelievable.

"Well, when you put it like that…I mean…" Donnie said as he rubbed the back of his neck also trying to make sense of it, before Leo interrupted to fill in on the rest of their story so far.

April quietly listened as Leo mentioned their new home in an abandoned tunnel section somewhere, and learned that the next two days were spent cleaning and refurbishing. She was very much stunned to learn that they not only tracked down where those Mousers were created and that said Mousers also killed a group of people at the command of a human mad scientist. She also was stunned to learn that Donnie was forced to make the Mousers self-destruct in order save him and his family from getting eaten alive by the same Mousers.

"Wow… that sounds like it was… traumatic…" April said as she looked toward the floor of the balcony, "So that explosion last night was the Mousers exploding and taking a whole building with them…" once April said this, she then saw Donnie looking less than thrilled with saving his family, but that wasn't the case and April began to figure out why and quickly added, "Donnie, don't worry about it! I saw the news the next day, nobody got hurt because the explosion." April said and Donnie looked up looking a bit more surprised to learn this,

"Really?" he said looking hopeful that she wasn't mistaken or making it up just to reassure him, and April responded by placing her hand on his shoulder,

"Yes, really. You didn't kill anyone, Donnie." And Donnie could feel his heat increase its pace for the time that April's hand was on his shoulder and was also relieved to learn that no-one was hurt because of him. She then turned to the other thee turtles, "So, what happens now? There are still alien brains to look out for. And now there is also a mad scientist on the loose somewhere. What are you going to do now?" April asked and at that, Leo answered,

"Now, we will patrol the city looking for any signs of alien activity, or signs of Dr Stockman. If we find the aliens, we may find your Dad." Leo said and April just had to ask as she withdrew her hand from Donnie's shoulder,

"But the city is huge! Where do you start? April asked and even though she was glad that her father was going to get some form of help, that didn't stop her question from being voiced, but it would appear Leo had an answer prepared,

"Well, we're going to start patrolling your neighbourhood and also the area where Dr Stockman's lab exploded. Then we're going to widen our search." Leo said in his leader voice. April thought about this for a moment and then thought that she could place the fate of her father's life in the hands of the turtle ninjas. She then thought of something off topic, and she thought about it and decided to take the subject to lighten the mood which had somehow gotten a bit dark thanks to last night's events being mentioned,

"Hey, if you guys don't mind, I wanna change the subject to something lighter!" April asked and at that, the four turtles looked at each other before nodding,

"Sure!"

"Okay, so… uh… I'm guessing you guys don't go to supermarkets to get your food… so… how do you guys get your food without anyone getting suspicious of you?" April asked and after the four ninjas looked at each other briefly, Mikey answered,

"Well, we've been living off of algae and worms for as long as we can remember." As soon as Mikey said 'algae and worms', April grimaced at the very thought of eating such a thing,

"… That is… insanely gross…" she said with disgust clearly shown on her face,

"C'mon, April. We've long since gotten used to it-"but Leo was interrupted by April, who now had a determined look on her face,

"Well, no more! You guys are on a rescue mission! Rescuers need proper food as well!" April said as she clenched her fist and raised it to shoulder level, "I'm going to help you guys with your food problem! First thing tomorrow, I am going to the grocery store and I'm going to get you guys some proper food!" April said and when she mentioned proper food, Mikey's mind instantly went to pizza and the other's drooled at the thought of eating something other than algae and worms again. After a moment or so, Donnie snapped out of it,

"But, you're living with your Aunt now. Won't she get suspicious? Especially since she doesn't know about us." Donnie asked and April was all too happy to answer,

"She won't know about it. She knows that its normal for kids like me to go out whenever we wish to. And she also won't know how I'm spending my money. Just tell where to drop off the groceries for you guys to collect." April said and the four took a moment to register what she was saying (minus Mikey as he was constantly thinking of pizza the entire time), and after a moment, Leo answered,

"Okay, April. Drop off the groceries inside the abandoned warehouse at the corner of Eastman Land. We'll collect it there." Leo said and April smiled at the thought of helping her rescuers if even a little.

11:24pm…

Soon however, it was time to leave, Donnie was a little more reluctant to leave April than his three brothers as they waved their goodbyes to each other, and April retreating to her room through the open window and closing it shut. And for the turtles, it was also time to head home. But not before paying another trip to the junkyard to see if anything they could scavenge could be useful.

April 26th… 12:29pm… New York General Hospital…

Casey didn't know what was worse: 1) his father being killed by a huge thug named 'Hun' (yes, he remembered), 2) having no home to return to, 3) his father's murder being written off as random gang violence and not much was going to be done about it, 4) being sent to an orphanage after he would be released from hospital, 5) having no-one to rely on.

Casey couldn't decide which of these were worse having all of this happening to him at once. All of this had him questioning _"How did everything go so wrong? So… fast?"_ It was this question that kept ringing in Casey's mind as he was being treated for injuries and as he slept and dreamed. It was all he could think about. But when he was given the all clear by the doctors and due to be picked up by child services and taken to an orphanage very soon, he could not help but feel like his life as he knew it was over now.

12:32pm… Eastman Land… Abandoned warehouse…

April said she was going to help the turtles with their food issues, eating algae and worms was definitely not how to live, not if April had anything to say about it. So here she stood, in the middle of the only abandoned warehouse on Eastman Land, carrying four bags of food and wondering if she had the right address or if somehow, she had been duped. However, when a large egg-shaped thing emerged from the ground, she realized she must be in the right place, and when the large egg opened its door to reveal Donnie standing inside, her doubts were cast aside.

Upon seeing his crush's face the moment the chamber doors opened, Donnie could only manage an awkward wave and,

"H-hey, April!" an awkward greeting as the butterflies in his stomach chose that moment to go into his head. April decided to approach Donnie inside the chamber to hand him over the bags of food, but before Donnie could register what it was she was doing, she had already entered the chamber and Donnie instantly understood what that meant,

"Oh! Wait a second- "but before Donnie could stop her, the chamber doors had already closed behind her once she entered and the egg like elevator began its descent into the Lair below.

"Donnie, are we going down?" April asked,

"Yeah… sorry I… forgot to tell you in time but, I think this is some form of ancient technology of sorts. In this case, the doors automatically open when approached and automatically close when someone enters it." Donnie said, as he was unsure himself,

"'Ancient technology… how old are you guys?" April asked, thinking that her new friends were older than they let on,

"Me and my brothers are fifteen." Donnie answered,

"Really? So am I actually…" April said. All of this seemed elevator talk to pass the time as the chamber was moving rather slowly,

"So, by accident, I'm going to end up seeing and knowing where you guys are living." April said and Donnie gave out a nervous chuckle,

"Yeah… my Sensei is going to be mad at me for this…" Donnie said and at that, April gave him a questioning look that Donnie felt like he had to answer,

"Remember last night when we accidently told you that we have a Sensei?" Donnie asked and April nodded in confirmation,

"Well, he wasn't too pleased with how we handled things… we're ninjas, we're supposed to keep ourselves and our fellow ninja a secret, so when we told him that you knew of his existence…"

 _(Flashback)_

 _April 25_ _th_ _… 12:00am… The Lair…_

 _The four turtles were kneeling in front of Master Splinter who was standing up and looking down at them with an expression that demanded silence from the four turtles. They sat in nervous silence as they no doubt knew that whatever punishment that Splinter was thinking of, it was definitely going to hurt._

" _We will continue this in the morning." Master Splinter said in a stern voice and as he retreated to his room, the four turtles looked on nervously before standing to retreat to their own rooms… nervously._

" _Dudes, maybe Sensei will go easy on us…?" Mikey said in a mix of hopefulness and nervousness,_

" _Mikey, this is Master Splinter we're talking about. We're probably going to be hurting tomorrow morning…" Leo said as if he knew what sort of punishment they were in for,_

 _April 26_ _th_ _… 7:35am… The Lair…_

 _After a good night's rest, the turtles were still a little nervous about what Master Splinter had in store for them as they knelt before him, waiting for whatever he had in store for them,_

" _I have been thinking this through, my sons. And after sleeping on it, I have decided what training will be fitting for a morning such as this." Master Splinter said in a tone that had the four turtles a little nervous, as he only announced a different training method if they did something incredibly stupid._

" _I have decided for this morning's training to be…" at this, he pulls out a wooden sword from seemingly out of nowhere, "…Randori." There were four audible gulps from the four turtles as they knew what this implied: free-style sparring against Splinter._

 _THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!_

 _There were four they audible thuds as the four turtles were lying on the ground holding the top of their heads and groaning in pain. Though Master Splinter made sure not to hit them too hard so as to crack their skulls,_

" _I hope you have learned, turtles, that truth isn't the only thing that hurts!"_

(End of Flashback)

April 26th… 12:34pm… The Lair…

"Wow, your Sensei sounds very strict…" April said as the two exited the chamber/ elevator, then April went wide-eyed with awe as she looked upon the massive space that was The Lair,

"Wow!" was what described it as she took in the sights of the Lair,

"Yeah, I know, right? But yeah… Sensei is strict as a teacher when he needs to be, but he can also be a loving and nurturing father. Though- "Donnie didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as a towering shadow suddenly loomed over both himself and April,

"…uh… Donnie? Would that be THE Master Splinter you were talking about?" April asked, her nervousness clearly shown, but it didn't rival the nervousness that Donnie was emitting,

"…yes…" Donnie said weakly and when they turned to face the owner of the towering shadow, they saw the figure of a VERY annoyed Master Splinter, who looked down at them with a very displeased look,

"Donatello." He had only said one word, but it was enough to not only demand total attention from the two before him, but it also drew the attention of the other three turtles from whatever it was they were doing. Leo peeked out from the kitchen area, Raph stopped punching and kicking the training dummy and Mikey looked away from the now fixed TV. When April got her first look at Master Splinter, she looked scared as her first thoughts were,

" _He's a man-sized rat!"_ she thought as she stood, staring at him before she eventually fainted. She would have hit the ground if Donnie hadn't caught her in his arms. Though that didn't stop the bags of groceries from hitting the ground.

"You had better have a good reason for this." Master Splinter said and as he did, the four turtles could only think of one thing:

" _Uh-oh!"_

April 26th… New York City Streets… 12:44pm…

Casey was well aware of the many stories that happened to a majority of kids in the foster system. Not many of them have happy endings and not a single child who enters the orphanage has a happy beginning either. He wasn't registered as an orphan just yet, but as he sat in the car as it travelled to the orphanage, he also wondered, _"Is this seriously how things are going to be now? My life being sorted out by people who don't give a damn?"_ It didn't matter to Casey that the orphanage had to register him as a resident there because as far as he knew, he was an orphan now, with no one to live up to.

His initial thoughts of no-one caring about orphans like him were proven true however, when the car he was being escorted in had stopped at a petrol station and the escort who was supposed to be looking out for Casey all the while, had stepped out and entered the station for something he didn't say what. To Casey, this was all the confirmation he needed, if no-one was going to help him, then he would just look out for himself. Now was the perfect opportunity, the car was unlocked, so taking the initiative, he exited the car and walked off in a random direction of the city, with the so-called caretaker and escort being none the wiser. For Casey, he despaired at living alone now, and living on the streets of New York would mean that he would just be another homeless person, but he didn't care.

" _I will never let someone else ruin my life. More than it already has anyway. From now on, Casey Jones looks out for himself!"_ Casey thought, and with that, his life as a homeless kid on the streets of New York began. Little did he know however, that it would be his best decision yet.

April 26th… The Lair… 1:13pm…

It was all very fuzzy for April, the last thing she remembers is riding the ancient elevator going down alongside Donnie… and then fuzziness. But as the minutes rolled by, and the fuzziness of her mind clearing. She was most likely dreaming at this point, but eventually she began to wake up. As she woke, she noted that she was lying on a sofa and concluded that she must have fallen asleep on her Aunt's sofa at some point. But as she got a clearer view of her surroundings, she saw that she wasn't inside her Aunt's apartment home, but in someone else's home. The home of the turtle ninjas. And not only that, but when she awoke, she found herself surrounded by all four of the ninja turtles,

"Oh… wow… did I fall asleep? I am so embarrassed…" April said but Donnie who stood next to the sofa's armrest, had decided to correct her,

"Good to see you're awake April, but… you didn't fall asleep… you… kind of… fainted." Donnie said and April looked a bit confused,

"What? Fainted? Why?" April said and Donnie answered,

"You sort of fainted at the sight of our Sensei." Donnie said and at that point, the reason for why she fainted came back to her,

"Your… Sensei…" April was about to add something else but it was then that Master Splinter made his presence known by walking out from behind a pillar and clearing his throat to gain her attention,

"Why don't you take a second look at me then. And maybe then you would like to answer some questions?" Master Splinter said and as April looked at him again, her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out until eventually,

"You… really… are a… a…" and then she fainted… again. She was at that point sitting up on the sofa and when she fainted she was still upright on it.

"You sure have a way with the ladies, Master Splinter…" Leo voice had many hints of sarcasm as he said this, and Donnie face-palmed at the same time

"Now what do we do?" Donnie asked, but Mikey decided to turn about and pick up one of his comics that were lying around and sat down on the other chair in their makeshift TV area,

"Somebody get me when she wakes up again." Mikey said as he then began reading his comic again.

1:19pm…

It doesn't take long for Mikey to get so absorbed in his comics, but when he does, he tends to forget about his surroundings. Seeing this, Raph grinned as he approached Mikey from behind, took a deep breath in and…

"HEY EARTH TO MIKEY!" Raph shouted and the response was instantaneous,

"AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH! WHAT?" Mikey very nearly jumped out of his shell and Raph earned himself a satisfied grin,

"She woke up… again… Leo made her some tea and this time, she didn't faint at the sight of Master Splinter." Raph said,

"Awesomely radical, dude!" Mikey shouted out,

"Ha, if you keep talking like that, she gonna pass out again!" Raph said with sarcasm and grinning,

"Hey!"

April was calming sipping on some tea that Leo made for her, and with Master Splinter standing opposite her, Leo by his side and Donnie at the armrest of the sofa she was sat on, things were progressing rather well. She didn't faint again at least,

"So… you okay now?" Mikey asked April and she turned her head to him as he approached her,

"Yes, thank you. After being kidnapped by aliens, saved by human sized ninja turtles and discovering that their Sensei is a man sized talking rat, I am ready to accept whatever weird thing is going to happen in my life now…" April said as she then looked towards the ground, thinking about what she just said. She didn't think long however as Master Splinter interrupted whatever train of thought she had at that moment,

"Young woman, we have something most important to discuss." Master Splinter said and April looked up to him,

"What is it?" she asked,

"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world before." He then turned his head towards Donnie, "You have placed us all in great danger by bringing her here, Donatello." Master Splinter said and Donnie winced slightly,

"But Master Splinter, I did say earlier it was an accident." Donnie said but Splinter simply shook his head at this,

"An accident that could have been easily more preventable had you been more responsive. But I fear now, there is no going back." Master Splinter then turned his attention back to April, "I am afraid we now find ourselves at… your mercy." As Master Splinter said this, he powered his head so as to accept whatever it was she had in mind but much to his relief,

"Oh, I would never tell anybody! Besides, who would believe me?" April said almost quickly and Donnie support this claim,

"She's got a point there." He said,

"Yeah! We're .able!" Mikey said out of nowhere and doing strange movements with his body, leaving Raph to face-palm at his antics,

"Geez, where's yer off switch?"

"Seriously, I promise." After April said this, Master Splinter approached her and knelt in front of her in order to make direct eye-contact with her. April found herself unable to look from his piercing gaze and after a moment, Splinter made his decision.

"I believe you." Splinter said as if he knew she was telling the truth, and seeing this made Leo crouch next to Splinter,

"Is this another lesson, Sensei? How to sense the truth?" Leo asked and Splinter answered,

"No, my son. This is called 'trusting your gut'. In other words, my instincts. Always trusts your instincts, Leonardo." Master Splinter said, after which April felt compelled to ask,

"So… if I'm keeping your secret, what exactly is your secret? Who are you people… uh, turtles… uh, whatever?" April asked and Splinter knew that since his sons saved her from aliens, he felt that she at least should know more about her rescuers,

"Very well then. Many years ago, when I was still human, I was leaving the pet store with four baby turtles…"

1:22pm… New York City… Casey's former home…

After successfully running away from being escorted to the orphanage, Casey felt as though he needed to return to the smouldering remains of his now destroyed home. The place was beyond repair, the store and his apartment home above it were reduced to a black wreckage. Even though he knew the police wouldn't do much to find his father's killer, since the murder was written off as random gang violence, he still half-expected his home to be sealed off by crime-scene tape. But there was nothing. And even though there were some people stooping to look at the black remains of the building, it still didn't stop them from walking over the spot where Mr Jones lay dead on the pavement. It made Casey furious that nothing was happening, almost as if nothing had happened yesterday. However with this in mind, it meant that nobody was going to stop him from walking through the destroyed building, with the hope that he could salvage something from his now former life. That hope however was quickly expunged when practically everything was gone, not even the family photos survived.

Casey had just about given up hope and proceeded to exit the destroyed building through what was the back exit when underneath the pile of rubble near the back had suddenly caught his eye. Casey then remembered that area that underneath that pile of rubble on the floor was the entrance to the store's basement. Casey hoped that whatever was in that basement, something, if not everything that was inside the basement had survived the blaze. He wasted no time in removing piece after piece of rubble that blocked the entrance from opening, and when he finally cleared the way, he grabbed a hold of the door handle and opened the entrance. To his surprise and relief, the fire did not go beyond the basement door, the walls and stairs leading down had not only survived, but there were in near perfect condition. Casey then wasted no time in descending into the basement, however if he had taken the time to look around a bit, he would have noticed a lone Purple Dragon thug, hiding behind one of the building's still standing walls.

When Casey reached the bottom level, he saw that the basement was almost empty, save for two large cardboard boxes, the size of St Bernards, lying in the back. He went to them and when he opened the boxes, he saw the contents: six baseball bats, three cricket bats, eight golf clubs and five hockey masks and a golf bag that filled one box. And in the other: one pair of roller blades, nine pairs of hockey gloves, nine hockey sticks, and one rectangular target for martial arts.

Casey knew what this all was. He and his father had boxes upon boxes of sports equipment ready for sale the week before and these two boxes were what was left that would've lasted over the weekend and no doubt they would've received a truck load of new equipment to sell on Monday morning. As Casey looked what was left of his former life, he then heard the unmistakeable sound of the basement door opening and shutting. An intruder. Casey quickly turned around but not before taking a baseball bat out of one of the boxes and using it as a weapon for whoever it was who was coming his way. He only needed to wait a couple of seconds as a lone man descended onto the same basement floor as Casey and the two stood on opposite ends of the room, facing each other. Casey took a wild guess that this man was one of the Purple Dragons.

"Well, look at what I found! The kid survived. But now…" the Purple Dragon then pulls out a broken pipe from behind him, "… now no-one will ever know who was down here!" the threat was spoken, now it was on!

Casey knew the emotion welling up inside of him as he and the Purple Dragon charged at one another, and he knew it when the swing of his bat was somehow faster than the Purple Dragon's swing: it was rage.

The Purple Dragon was more than a little stunned when the bat made heavy contact with his skull, he was also disorientated as he staggered to the wall. He also had no time to react as the same bat struck him again onto his head with the force of a rhino. And just like that, it was over. The Purple Dragon couldn't stop himself from falling onto the ground and from there he was unable to get back up as he slipped into an unconscious state.

With his rage subsided for now, he stepped up to the unconscious Purple Dragon and checked his pulse. He was still alive.

"I will never stoop to being a killer like 'him'." Casey said he was referring to Hun, the man who killed his father, "But I will be damned if I let the last of me and my father's stuff be used for their crimes." As Casey declared this, he placed the bat back into the box and closed the two boxes. He then stacked one on top the other and then proceeded to carry both out of the basement.

"I will never allow these Purple Dragon scum to do as they please…" Casey said as his mind replayed the horrible events that happened last evening, "Casey Jones will not be denied his revenge!"

* * *

 **me: hey there! I hope you liked reading this chapter, and just so you know, I think you guys will be surprised once you see what I will have in store for Casey and the Turtles for the next chapter! Until then!**


	7. A Fated Meeting

**me: hello readers! Things are starting to get mixed together. And by that I mean I've combined episodes from the 2012 series. See if you can see which ones!**

* * *

April 27th… 2012… New York City… The Lair… 6:32pm…

Although it was New York City, that didn't mean there was always going to be something to do. Case in point, when the turtles went rooftop jumping/ patrol of the city last night, they found no alien activity or any sign of the mad scientist, Dr Stockman. They figured there were going to be quiet nights like that sometimes… well, as quiet as the city can get anyway…

Though, the city was going to get a little more exciting from now on, as Leo found out as he sat on the family's sofa and watching the Channel 6 News on the TV,

" _Carlos Chang O'Brian Gambe here with a special news report: Violence on the streets is spiking to a worrying high, as a new gang calling themselves 'The Purple Dragons', have terrorized local businesses and destroyed buildings. Although the police say that these attacks are random violent acts, victims say otherwise. They say that the Purple Dragons burned down their businesses when they refused to assist them. On the same note about the Purple Dragons, around 4 of their members were rushed to a nearby hospital when a new vigilante beat them all nearly half to death. Residents are urged now to stay indoors, inside their homes to avoid the increasing violence."_

When Leo was finished with the news, he went to see Master Splinter about this new vigilante, but when he asked, Leo was told to… "… not put any unnecessary weight on your shoulders, Leonardo. Unless if you are directly confronted with no other course of action, you must avoid any fight if you can help it."

10:34pm… Eastman Land Abandoned Warehouse…

This was it for Casey. The abandoned warehouse that he found was perfect for keeping himself safe as he slept, not only did it provide for him a solid roof over his head, but also no one who would inevitably see him would bat an eyelid at why he was there. To them, he would be just another homeless guy, roaming the streets of the city. At least by day. By night, he would gear up to beat down any Purple Dragon scum he would come across. As of right now he was only thinking of one thing: revenge. Revenge against the Purple Dragons for destroying his life and revenge against the man who murdered his father: Hun. The moment he thought of that hulking figure, he would snap and get angry in an instant. Just like last night and the night he first arrived at the warehouse. His rage would not subside unless he beat down a group or so of the Purple Dragons. And right now, was time again.

His choice of gear was the equipment that was left behind in his father's basement that he managed to save when he found it. He wore a hockey mask and his hooded jacket to conceal his features. Of course, he also wore his grey pants and trainers, but the weaponry he took with him were all carried around in the golf bag that was on his back. The golf bag contained two baseball bats, two golf clubs, and a cricket bat while his hands were covered by a pair of hockey gloves and he used a rectangular shaped martial art hitting target as a shield on his left arm. One thing was certain: he was ready to fight any gang he came across.

Once he was ready, he wasted no time in exiting the warehouse to fight against the Purple Dragons for a third time now. However, if he had waited a few more minutes, he would have witnessed the ground opening inside the warehouse and an egg-shaped elevator rise from the ground and also four mutant turtles exiting it in order to start their patrol of the city.

April 30th… 6:31pm…

" _Carlos Chang O'Brian Gambe here with yet another Purple Dragon related incident: although with several arrests have been made against the Purple Dragons, it doesn't seem to be decreasing the level of violence that the Purple Dragons have displayed. Their numbers are ever increasing as are more reports of Purple Dragon related violence. Also, people are now speculating about who the mystery vigilante is, who is attacking any and every Purple Dragon he comes across."_

11:55pm… Eastman Land Abandoned Warehouse…

Another patrol of the city, and once again, nothing. Though to Mikey, jumping across rooftops like the ninjas that they were, was an excellent freedom to have. The other three wouldn't admit but they also enjoyed the freedom it brought. With nothing else to do, they entered the egg-shaped elevator and it then brought them down to the Lair to get a good night's sleep.

If Casey Jones had been a little faster, he would have seen four mutant turtles entering an egg-shaped chamber and then see it descend through the earth as it sealed itself. But when he entered, he saw the same empty room. No giant eggs, no mutants, nothing. It was the same warehouse that provided shelter for him, just like tonight after another Purple dragon beatdown.

May 1st… 6:35pm…

" _Carlos Chang O'Brian Gambe here for Channel 6 News. Violence is still at an all-time high, courtesy of the Purple Dragon gangs. The violence is making so many wonder, what on earth is being done about this? Well for one, the mystery vigilante that has been focusing his attacks solely on the Purple Dragons. Thanks to this vigilante, the number of gang members in the hospital has now increased to eighteen, with three of them fully recovered and going to jail."_

10:49pm… April's Apartment Balcony…

It was starting to become a routine for April and the turtles: before the four ninja turtles began their patrols of the city, they would first check in with April to see if she had anything new to tell. Or rather, Donnie would eagerly volunteer to chat with her whilst the other three surveyed the rooftop and kept a lookout in order to make sure they weren't ambushed or anything while they were getting some info.

It was usually the same: Donnie would blush and stutter a bit as he talked with April, alone, while April would brush it off as she thought that he didn't have much practise talking to girls. Though this time around, she had something different to say to him…

"Really? You're sure, April?" Donnie asked as was processing this new information,

"Yeah, I'm sure Donnie. There is a lab on 47th street, and I tell you, I saw the same look-a-like alien robots in human suits, staring out of a van at the building. They were preoccupied with the building that they didn't even notice that I was there!" April said,

"Alright, April. We'll check it out!" Donnie said aloud and April gave a slight smile towards him that made him blush heavily, and he was lost for intelligent words.

Soon however, he came back to his senses and eventually stood on the apartment rooftop with his three brothers.

"Guys!" Donnie said and gaining his brother's attention,

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked,

"April said she spotted some of those same alien robots checking out a lab on 47th. They're up to something." Donnie said and Raph spoke up,

"Another kidnapping attempt. We already know they're going around kidnapping scientists." Raph said and it was a definite possibility that Leo came to a decision,

"Okay, we'll scope out the lab on 47th, and find out what the aliens are up to and stop them." Leo said but Raph just looked at him in a nonchalant expression,

"That was the idea anyway, Captain Obvious." Raph said and Leo just glared at him with a cartoon sized forehead vein above him.

11:03pm… Chinatown Alleyways…

Location didn't matter to Casey, just as long as he could clobber some Purple Dragons. Nothing but the usual that you would normally find in an alleyway; dumpsters, garbage, used crates, other bins etc. And as Casey walked through it, wearing his vigilante gear, he knew that if he was patient enough or if continued walking in random directions, he would eventually come across a Purple Dragon or two. They weren't very difficult to find, they had the stupidest hairstyles in the world and it was even more easier to find them because they started tattooing Purple Dragon symbols onto their bodies. All Casey had to do was wait and patrol until he finds one. Find one and others will surely be close.

He didn't have to wait long or patrol much however, as when he turned a corner, he quickly dived back to avoid detection by his newest targets; a group of four, one with black leather jeans, boots and bodywarmer, skinny as well. Easy. Another with similar clothing but was a bit more muscular with a ridiculous looking moustache, armguards and a small ponytail. Also, easy. The third looked to be more muscle than brains, also wore similar clothing except his pants went as far as his shins, wore silver bracelets and a purple headband. Another easy one. The fourth wore a white tank top and blue jeans and looked a bit uglier in Casey's eyes. And in his eyes, he saw them; the Purple Dragon tattoos on all four of them. Perfect. Targets found.

Without wasting another second, Casey picked up a small metal bin by one of its handles and threw it around the corner. It hits the Purple Dragon in the white tank top hit across his head and the response was instantaneous. The other three were stunned and taken aback a bit as their Purple Dragon friend slumped to the floor, most likely unconscious and won't be getting up soon. The still standing three Purple Dragons turned towards the one responsible inside the alley as Casey emerged from the corner.

"Purple Dragon scum. You slime balls are just like weeds." Casey said quietly behind his mask but it was just loud enough for the three remaining Purple Dragons to hear him,

"Hey, I've hearda dis guy, it's that vigilante whose been layin' da smackdown on the other Purple Dragons!" said the skinny one,

"Pfft! Hey, what's with the stupid costume?" said the muscular one, and all three were ignorant of what Casey was capable of.

"What? You don't know? Pffthehehehe! Thanks to this getup, I'm going to be the last thing you see before you either wake up in the hospital or a prison cell." Casey said and with nothing else left to say he attacked with one of the hockey sticks that he brought out from his golf bag.

The skinny Purple Dragon was first, with anger and experience backing Casey up, he smacked the skinny crook across the left side of his head with his hockey stick and sent the criminal flying into the brick wall, and landed face down on the ground. Casey didn't stop there as he charged the muscular man next, he jumped up and swung the hockey stick down ward but the muscular man raised his arms and blocks the attack, and as Casey landed, the moustache man attacked with a pocket knife, he swung at Casey's gut area but Casey reacted by jumping back and jumped back again to get some distance. He then brings out a baseball bat from his golf bag with his left hand and charged the armed man, the armed man reacts by thrusting the knife forward intending to stab Casey, but Casey reacts by swinging the bat down at the man's attacking hand, the bat hits the man's wrist and with a grunt of pain and natural reflex, the man drops his knife and gave Casey the perfect opportunity to whack him over the head. Which he did. With the bat. The hit sent him flying into the nearby dumpster, hitting hard, so much so that it made some of the contents spill out of it. He then his attention back to the muscular man who then charged him intending to slam a punch into Casey's mask covering face, but Casey reacts by swinging the hockey stick upward. The hockey stick connects right in between the man's legs making his eyes bulge out and he then squealed at the pain that no man wants to feel… ever. He then decided to the man out of his misery by swinging his bat downwards onto the squealing man's head. He won't be getting up anytime soon. He then turned around to see the other two. The skinny Purple Dragon at that point had gotten up from being slammed into the wall earlier and decided to make a break for it. Luckily for Casey, he wasn't going to go far, as one of the spilled dumpster contents was an empty glass bottle, and it was laying right at Casey's feet. Grinning behind his mask, he lined up the empty glass bottle with his hockey stick and rears it up,

"Casey Jones shoots- "Casey at that point hit the empty glass bottle in the style of shooting a hockey puck, the empty glass bottle is sent soaring across the alleyway and it didn't stop until it made contact and shattering against the back of the Purple Dragon's head. The hit made the crook stumble and fall forward, "-HE SCORES!" and with that, four Purple Dragons taken down in just under a minute or so. Scratch that, three down. The man who got hit over the head with the projectile bin, got up at that moment and looking at the carnage around him, he decided to run away into the alleyway. With no other projectile to use, Casey bellowed,

"I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET! GET BACK HERE, PURPLE DRAGON SCUM!" he shouted as he gave chase, and leaving the carnage and three unconscious men behind. Casey didn't care how far he would chase him, just that when he caught up with him, he was going to be bruised all over.

11:17pm… 47th Street… Apartment rooftop…

Empty. That was probably the only good word to describe this street. Only the sounds of something going on in another part of the city.

"Anything?" Leo asked,

"Nothing yet." Answered Donnie as he peered into a small telescope that was pointed at the street below.

Though with nothing to do themselves, Raph and Mikey were understandably bored, Raph was sat next to a pyramid shaped window with Mikey on top of it, but when it came to Mikey, the word bored was taboo. So, he entertained himself, much to Raph's annoyance. And so it was that Mikey, from he was, decided to do so by gently poking the top of Raph's bald green head, with Raph trying to swat him away. But after about the third or fourth attempt at poking him, Mikey suddenly yelped as Raph unexpectedly grabbed his poking finger and twisted it slightly,

"Guys! When ninjas are on surveillance, they are supposed to be _silent_!" Leo said as he got annoyed at their antics,

"Sorry, Leo. I'll scream quieter." Mikey said after which he slowly poked Raph's head again and chuckled, but Raph growled and grabbed Mikey's poking finger and instead of twisting it slightly, he instead threw Mikey overhead and slammed him into the floor. He wasn't done yet as he then put Mikey in a headlock,

"Say it." Raph said,

"Raph, be quiet." Leo said as he felt that Raph was being too loud… again.

"Not until Mikey says it!"

"Raphael is all wise and powerful…"

"Aaand?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way!"

Raph then shoved Mikey into the ground and held him there,

"Aaand?"

"And I'm a lowly worm who isn't fit to live in the same planet as him, cause he's so amazing and I'm a dirt-clod!"

Raph then licks his finger and then places it inches away from Mikey's face which made him squirm as he looked at it,

"Aaand?"

"IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE, THERE'S NEVER BEEN-"

"Okay, enough!" Leo suddenly ordered, but Raph was satisfied with what he got and let Mikey go. He then approached Leo with an _I'm-bored-and-annoyed-as-hell_ look,

"We're wasting our time. The aliens aren't gonna show up." Raph said,

"Have a little patience, will you?" Leo said as Donnie looked away from his telescope and looked towards Raph,

"Trust me, guys. They're going to break into the lab tonight. I have reliable intel." Donnie said but as he said, 'reliable intel', Raph just smirked and pointed out,

"Intel? You mean, April told you." Raph said and then Mikey chimed in,

"You mean your _girlfriend_?" Mikey aimed this at Donnie which seemed annoyed him to no end,

"She's not my girlfriend, Mikey. She's a girl, who's a friend, whose Dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are going to break into that lab and we're gonna stop them!" Donnie all but blurted out,

"Or we'll just sit out on a cold roof or not for no reason." Raph said and he was almost right, but down below, there was going to be a reason for sitting out on the rooftop.

11:18pm…

Down in the alleyway below, a thoroughly annoyed Casey Jones had finally cornered the runaway Purple Dragon. Unarmed but somehow still thinking he had a chance, he attacked with nothing but his fists, but as he charged the mask wearing vigilante, Casey responded by slamming his baseball bat into the Purple Dragon's left side, the blow made him wince as he probably got a few ribs broken as a result but didn't have time to think on it as Casey then wacked the top of his head with the same baseball bat.

Up above the, the sounds of the scuffle below in the alley had reached, Raph's ears, who then walked to the edge to investigate what was happening below. What he saw was a masked vigilante approaching an unconscious punk-like person and wielding a baseball bat and Raph assumed he was going to finish him,

"That guy's gonna kill him? Not on my watch!" Raph said as he pulled out his twin sai and jumped down from the rooftop to the alley below but not before Leo spotted him,

"Raph, wait!" but not only was Leo too late in stopping him, but at that point, Donnie suddenly bellowed out,

"Guys, it's the aliens!" the timing could not get any more convenient or coincidental but the reason why they were here had arrived and Leo made his decision,

"Raph can take care of himself. But we cannot let those aliens get whatever it is they're looking for! Come on!" Leo said as he leapt from the rooftop to the street below to engage the aliens as Donnie and Mikey followed him.

In the alley…

Casey approached the unconscious Purple Dragon with his weapon still in his hand, but seeing as the Purple Dragon was seemingly unconscious, he was going to check for a pulse like he would do, but knew he didn't hit the man that hard. But as he stopped in order to confirm to himself, a shadowy blur suddenly emerged from the shadows above and not only snatched the bat from his hand but also kicked him away from the unconscious person. Casey spun around quickly and just as quickly drew another bat from his golf bag and pointed it in every direction he could see as he saw no one in the alley with him.

"Wh-who's back there? Show yourself!" Casey ordered as he stood on the spot and trying to see who momentarily got the upper hand on him.

Raph didn't know what compelled him but as the mask wearing vigilante shouted, 'Show yourself', Raph emerged from the shadows of his hiding place behind a dumpster.

Casey couldn't believe what he was seeing; a green humanoid turtle wearing a red mask and some paddings on his elbows and knees and white wrappings on his arms and legs,

"What? The hell?!" it was all Casey could manage to say at his startled reaction but Raph just stared him down,

"Anything else you wanna add?" Raph said but at that point, Casey regained his bearings,

"Wait. So, what are you? Some kinda… turtle ninja?" at the words he just said, Casey couldn't help but laugh at the reality he was faced with, which made Raph mad that this punk was laughing at him for being what he is. Though at that point, the Purple Dragon suddenly regained consciousness and didn't bother looking around as he made a run for it back into the maze of alleys. Noticing this, Casey turned his attention back to the fleeing Purple Dragon,

"HEY, I'm still not done with you yet!" as Casey said this, he tried to give chase back a green hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and the strength from it stopped him,

"Dude, whatever happened, you made yer point. Now let him go." Raph said as it sounded like an order that Leo would make but Casey's response was to punch Raph in the stomach area which made him stumble back a bit,

"Okay, first of all- "as Raph said this, he approached the masked vigilante and used both his hands to push him back, "-you need to cool off for a while." Raph said in a tone that would suggest that he should take his own advice,

"That's it, lizard! I'm done with you!" Casey said as he drew the third baseball bat from his golf bag and charged at Raph with a bat in each hand. Raph responded by pulling his twin sai from his belt to fight the vigilante.

 **Raphael vs Casey Jones**

Even though Casey had not trained in any martial arts dojo, he was still fighting a highly trained Raph fairly evenly. Bats met sai at seemingly every strike, until in one instant when the bats and the twin sai locked them together for a second,

"I told you to back off!" Raph said as he used his strength to overpower and shove Casey back and followed up with a jump spin kick that struck Casey's chest and sent him flying into the wall behind him and landed in the empty dumpster. It was at that point that he heard laser fire from the street at decided to join his brothers in the fight against the aliens but at that point, Casey had jumped out from the dumpster and in front of Raph. Seeing that the Purple Dragon was probably long gone by now had Casey looking for some payback with Raph being the target of said payback,

"You let that scumbag go! You're gonna pay for that!" once Casey stated his intentions, he charged at Raph. Raph responded by aiming a strong punch towards Casey, but Casey quickly ducked as he charged and tackled Raph into the wall behind him, he then swung his bat at Raph's head but he misses as Raph ducked and rolled out the way, the moment that the bat hit the wall, Casey quickly turned around swung both bats at Raph who then backflips out the way and then threw some of his hidden shuriken at Casey. Casey quickly raised his fighting target to shield himself with success as the shuriken embedded themselves in it.

"Gotta admit, throwing stars are cool." Casey said as he looked at his shuriken embedded shield.

"Let me show you what my sai are about!" Raph said as he raised his twin sai again.

 **Meanwhile in the street…**

Leo was incredibly annoyed with Raph at the moment, but that would have to wait as he now stood on the pavement with Donnie and Mikey with the intention of stopping alien brains in their robot bodies from whatever it was they had planned. The aliens spotted them as they heard the sound of something landing on the pavement,

"It is the ones that are mutant creatures!" one of the aliens said in a monotone voice,

"They have come to stop the plans that are the plans of the Kraang's plans!" said another alien, but Leo noticed something the alien said,

"'Kraang?'" Leo said,

"It must be what they call themselves." Donnie said,

"Dudes, that is such a weak name, I woulda called them 'The Brain Blobs'!" Mikey said which made the other two look at him as if he grew a second head.

The two turtles didn't get a chance to let Mikey know how bad of a name that was since the 'Kraang' as they called themselves suddenly brought out their weapons and fired at the three turtles. The three turtles were quick to react as they leaded and scattered to avoid the laser fire, the lasers hitting only parked cars and the walls. With the Kraang, for whatever reason, they were really bad shots. So bad in fact that their target would've had to stand directly in front of the blaster, fortunately for the three turtles, their quick reactions and agility made it so that eventually they were in front of each Kraang and with their weapons, they sliced, stabbed, bashed and knocked each of their robot bodies into uselessness. It was confirmed that they won when each of the Kraang sprang out from each of their broken robot bodies and scurried and shrieked into the darkness of the alleys.

"Phew! That wasn't so bad!" Mikey said and the other two agreed with him, but then all three had wondered about Raph. As soon as they did, they noticed the sounds of fighting coming from the alley that their brother was in, and they knew it was him fighting as they could hear his grunts along with someone elses.

"…Raph… what the hell? Why are you fighting?" Leo said but as soon as he that he realised that this was Raph he was talking about and Raph loved to fight, but Donnie and Mikey were not mind readers,

"Leo… you do realise this is Raph right?"

"Yeah, dude! He would fight all of New York's best fighters if he was allowed to."

Then Leo face-palmed for saying something so daft.

 **Back in the alley…**

Abruptly, the sounds of lasers firing from the street had stopped. Raph realised that his brothers had defeated the aliens without much trouble (not realising the name of the aliens yet), now his attention was on the mask wearing vigilante and if he was honest, he liked to brawl with this guy. Maybe it was each other's intent to fight was even for them both, or maybe because he found someone who was just as hot-headed as he could get or if it was something else entirely, but nonetheless, they were still fighting.

Once again, twin sai would hit against the bats (or vice versa), as they attempted to get the upper hand on one another. The two eventually locked weapons again except this time, Casey withdrew the bat in his right hand and slammed it against Raph's weapons, the shock of the attack made Raph stumble back, then Casey leapt to his side and then jumped behind him and smacked his shell with his two bats which caused Raph to fall forward onto his plastron. Casey smirked behind his mask as he approached the downed turtles,

"Heh, aren't turtles supposed to be endangered?" Casey said in a cocky tone and the response he got was Raph turning onto his back and then onto his shoulders,

"Only the ones that can't do THIS!" at that, Raph sprang up and simultaneously kicked Casey in the face so hard that he sent the vigilante flying out of the alley and onto the road in the street, where just a few feet away were the other three brothers.

Raph exited the alley and then a second later, the other three turtles were at his sides. Casey at that point had gotten up from being knocked onto the road and saw the four turtles standing side by side, with Raph holding his twin sai but the other three had their weapons in their holsters/belts.

"There's… four of them?" Casey said quietly said and with his mask still on, it made his words inaudible. Casey realised that if the red wearing turtles was anything to go by, then the other three must be good fighters as well and after getting his first defeat as a vigilante (he was reluctant to admit it), he wasn't about to take his chances at taking on all four of them at once. He wanted to them, but first he needed to recover from being beaten first and then try t find out what he was dealing with.

"You haven't seen the last of me yet, turtle!" Casey said and with that, he dashed to another alley in a different part of the street and didn't stop running until he was certain that the four weren't following him. They follow him anyway. Well… save for one… Raph…

"Yeah, you better run!" Raph shouted and then Leo stood in front of him in order to stop him going after the vigilante.

"What? I wasn't going to go after him." Raph said but Leo was having none of it,

"That doesn't matter, Raph! What matters, is that you revealed yourself to fight some guy in a mask! And also forced us three to reveal ourselves to him. But more than that, you left us alone to fight the Kraang!" Leo said in a tone that suggested he was greatly annoyed at Raph. He was going to fight back but at the mention of the word 'Kraang' he looked a bit confused until Donnie answered for him,

"Kraang is the name those aliens are calling themselves."

"Leo, someone was about to get seriously hurt. Are you telling me we should just let someone put someone else in a morgue?" Raph argued and from there, another argument between Leo and raph began, and Donnie and Mikey just stood back to avoid them,

"You don't know that! And besides you missed what I said! You left us alone to fight the Kraang!"

"Oh, what? Like you needed help?"

"Only this time! But what if they had more numbers, or had bigger weapons, then what? You can't just run off to fight random strangers!" it was at that point that Donnie chose this moment to but in (bravely),

"Guys, we can discuss this back at the Lair. We accomplished what we came to do here." Donnie said and with that, the four turtles began their (tense) trek back home. Tense because Leo and Raph were having a silent argument and intense glaring at each other. Donnie and Mikey looked at the two and sweat-dropped, but glad that they weren't the subject of the argument.

11:25pm… Eastman Land Abandoned warehouse…

Though the short journey to the abandoned warehouse was tense, the four turtle ninjas nonetheless got to their destination. And as ever, the warehouse was empty, except for the large egg-shaped elevator that would take them below ground. One thing was for certain; Raph was going to get lectured by Master Splinter, and although Raph knew this as well as his three brothers, it still didn't stop him from feeling like he did something good. Within a few seconds, the four turtles entered the egg-shaped elevator and the moment they did, the elevator closed itself and descended below ground. The ground sealed itself and so too did any evidence that there was an elevator inside at all. Just in time as well, as a few seconds later, Casey entered the warehouse looking a little bruised from his encounter with Raph but otherwise had no idea that the same turtle had entered the warehouse with his three brothers and vanished below ground. Still, it didn't stop him walking to the back of the warehouse where his boxes of equipment were and stripping himself of his gear and leaving himself in his everyday clothes (literally since he had nothing else to wear). As he sat by his boxed-up equipment, his mind went back to the red wearing turtle from before. As soon as he did, his adrenaline from their fight was drained and he suddenly felt himself fighting to stay awake. It was only the first time they met, and it would probably not be the last. With this in mind, he soon gave in to his sleepy body's demands and although uncomfortable where he was, he was soon getting used to it, much to his dismay. He didn't want to get used to it, but he was as he would rather get used to a new bed or a mattress at least.

He soon drifted asleep, unaware that below him, the four turtles had begun to talk about tonights event to their Sensei.

* * *

 **me: hey there! So... when the 2012 series was aired, I wasn't satisfied with Casey being introduced in the second season, I felt as though he could have had more of an impact if he had been introduced in the first season. So I made sure to introduce him as early as i could! What do you guys think? Was this how you envisioned Raph and Casey's first meeting or do you think it needed room for improvement? Either way, I'm satisfied with this chapter and the next will complete Casey's story arc. Until then!**


	8. Lessons Learned

**me: hello readers, this chapter took a bit longer than i though it would and was a lot longer than I initially thought so the next chapter really WILL be the final conclussion to Casey's story arc. Enjoy!**

* * *

May 2nd… 2012… 12:10am… The Lair…

When a person makes a mistake, and doesn't correct it, then that is another mistake. When a person doesn't realize he/she made a mistake and think their actions brought a noble outcome, then you may have trouble in your near future. This was very much the case with Raph. His first mistake: leaving his brothers to go fight someone he had no reason to fight against. His second mistake: He didn't re-join his brothers until after they had to fight the Kraang without him. His third mistake: He assumed too much in thinking another person was going to be killed. His fourth mistake: He revealed himself to another person when there was no need to. His fifth mistake: Unintentionally antagonising the same person. His sixth mistake: Not realising the consequences of his actions and thinking that somehow, he made a good difference. Six mistakes in one night and upon learning the events of the night from his sons, Master Splinter was quietly furious with Raph. For being a ninja as he had been trained to do and for potentially bringing all of them out of the shadows. Master Splinter was quiet, which made Raph a little nervous about his response.

"Raphael. Tonight, you have displayed irresponsible actions, and yet you do not realise that your actions will bring unwanted consequences?" Master Splinter said in a tone that said he was demanding full attention. That was directed at Raph so the other three turtles didn't feel that tone at them. And though they were sat, kneeling on the floor and close to one another, only Raph could feel that tone on him.

"Sensei, he wasn't going to stop, he was the most brutal person you ever met- "it was then that Mikey leaned in towards Raph,

"Except for you!" Mikey said as he grinned and was hit on the head by Raph in response and making him flinch back to his previous kneeling position,

"If I hadn't done what I did, there would've been a dead person tonight." Raph said as he justified his actions, and even though the other four couldn't fault him on that, there was one thing he was missing,

"Raphael, I know you meant well, but violence in any city is sadly common. And you have also got to know beyond doubt and your own assumptions that a violent act will take place. From what you told me about the act in question here, I feel as though a death was not about to happen." Master Splinter's words caught Raph's bewilderment,

"But Sensei, he was armed and looming over the guy like he was going to finish the job!" Raph said but Master Splinter was prepared for it,

"You assume too much, Raphael. If this vigilante had the mission to kill the other man, he would have done so as you were approaching him." Something in those words made something inside Raph's mind click. Sure, it didn't take long for him approach the vigilante from behind, but also in that time, the vigilante could've easily killed the other man. Seeing this, Master Splinter dismissed the four turtles to rest for the night and to have Raph think over his actions he made tonight.

8:06am…

After a good night's rest and a nice breakfast, Raph thought that his actions from the night were forgiven. He was so wrong about that. It was only five minutes into their morning training, and already his arms and legs were starting to shake under the strain he found himself in. As his three brothers were just about beginning teamwork exercises and sparring sessions, Master splinter devised that Raph should be punished for his actions last night. So, he had Raph stay in a horse stance (his legs positioned like being sat on a horse), and made sure his thighs were horizontal and told him not to move a single muscle, for if he did then the two bowls of water on his thighs would tip not only on him but the dojo floor as well. There were also two bowls of water on his shoulders, his arms were out in front of him with two cups of water balanced on the back of his hands and a single bowl of water balanced on the top of his head. Raph was in quite the predicament he found himself in. If he moved in any way, he would soak himself and the dojo, and then Master Splinter would rub salt in the wound by having him clean up the dojo. Master Splinter knew how capable Raph was at maintaining a solid stance, now he just needed to work on staying perfectly still. And much to his annoyance, his three brothers found this sight to be a huge laugh.

"I should've made a camera! I know this image is going to be remembered, but an actual picture would've been nice!"

"Dudes, what would happen if we tried to tickle him?"

"Mikey, no. He would knock you into next week!"

"It's a cause worth dying for!"

"Imagine if he were covered in itching powder!"

"Donnie, Sensei is strict but he's not cruel."

It was then that Master Splinter, who was standing at the bridge in the middle of The Lair had spoken up,

"Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo. The three of you will engage two on one for one minute, after which you will change partners until you have teamed with each other once." Master Splinter instructed.

"That's three matches between the three of us so makes three minutes." Donnie concluded and he spoke to make sure that Raph could hear him. The results were him glaring at all three of his brothers as if to say, 'just get it over with already'. Then after a few seconds of teasingly moving about to start, training was eventually in session.

8:10am…

Usually, three minutes wouldn't sound like a long time. However, if a person would be in Raph's position, three minutes would feel like hours. Being stuck in a horse stance for three minutes, with bowls and cups of water being balanced on different parts of his body and with his Sensei keeping him from brawling with his annoying brothers with only his gaze alone.

Raph was finally allowed to have a break when the three minutes were up and his Sensei carefully (and slowly) removed the bowls and cups (one by one). Unsurprisingly, Leo, Donnie and Mikey didn't bother helping and simply sat in a kneeling position, waiting for the next part of Master Splinter's training session.

Eventually, when Master Splinter removed the last bowl from his leg, he motioned for Raph to finally exit his stance. Which Raph did, clumsily, by falling flat on his shell with exasperated groans and moaning.

"…uuuhhh… finally…" was all about he could manage,

"I hope you have learned the importance of patience and staying put, Raphael." Master Splinter said and Raph could only respond with raising his arm up and giving a thumbs up gesture and a groan as he did.

"Good, now we can proceed with the remainder of morning training." Master Splinter said with Leo, Donnie and Mikey all responding with, "Hai, Sense!".

9:30am…

The training session could not have ended any slower for Raph. After sitting in a horse stance for what felt like ours, only finish with ninjitsu forms and techniques, Raph felt like doing nothing more than relaxing on the sofa and watching whatever program he liked. Though as a lack of luck would have it, there was nothing on that caught Raph's eye, and simply kept the channel on for the Channel Six news. Maybe something exciting on the news would get his attention.

" _This is Carlos Chang O'Brian Gambe here for the Channel Six news with a new update on New York's vigilante."_ This definitely caught Raph's attention, _"With the number of hospitalised Purple Dragon gang members increasing, police believe if something isn't done about this, the violence will only get worse. And so, the police have begun an investigation on the identity of the mystery vigilante."_ Raph had no doubt that it was the same vigilante whom he had fought last night. Though what Raph didn't realize was that Leo was standing behind the sofa,

"You know something…"

"WOAH!" Raph was surprised that he didn't notice Leo standing behind where he sat. He blamed it on his tired muscles, but he turned to Leo,

"Seriously, you gotta learn not to go sneaking around our own home!" Raph complained but Leo just gave him a slight smile as if repressing a chuckle,

"But, I wasn't sneaking, Raph. My footsteps were normal and I did announce myself before coming over but you probably didn't hear me." At that, Raph looked at Leo a little bit dumbstruck but Leo continued talking even though he saw Raph's expression,

"Anyway, you know what we must do later on tonight, right?" Leo asked and Raph looked towards the TV with the report on the vigilante having finished up. Raph also knew,

"We have to find this vigilante." Raph said and Leo agreed,

"That's right. We have to find him, TALK to him, and find out if we're on the same side." Leo put an emphasis on 'talk'. Raph knew why and it just annoyed him.

"WHAT? You think I can't talk to a guy?" Raph said as he raised the tone of his voice to sound about as annoyed as he felt,

"Well so far, no." and from there another argument ensued.

From the kitchen and Donnie's work table, the other two turtles could hear Raph's angry voice and Leo's annoyed tone, and chances were that Master Splinter could hear as well. But the two turtles knew better than to get in between those two when they were arguing.

Eventually, the arguing stopped and the two arguing turtles stopped the after argument glaring and walked away from each other. Leo probably went to a quiet and large open space of their home to meditate, and Raph with his blood boiling, went other to the training dummy to pound the stuffing out of it in order to vent his anger.

7:50pm… Eastman Land Abandoned Warehouse…

During the days as another homeless person living on the streets of New York, Casey was essentially invisible to others. There are sadly a lot of homeless people living on the city's streets and alleys, and one more seemed to happen almost every month or so. During the day, Casey would keep himself fed through the use of mobile kitchens that helped homeless people like him and good thing about it was that they didn't ask questions. However, as normal as that sadly was, what happened last night was far from normal. Getting jumped by a ninja-like turtle mutant, fighting said mutant and losing to him was definitely not an everyday occurrence. But it wasn't like he could report this to the police, any way he would try to explain it, he would no doubt be found out as New York's vigilante but his descriptions would likely end up with him in an asylum.

Losing didn't stick well with Casey, and whoever this turtle mutant is, he was going to make sure not just to get even, but also to prove that he was also the better fighter. Casey was determined to make sure of it, as well as placing the smack-down on a few more Purple Dragons as well.

With this in mind, he geared up in his vigilante outfit, with his numerous weapons ready to use and set out to scour the city of more Purple Dragons to beatdown and a rival fighter to beatdown as well.

"CASEY JONES WILL NOT STAY DOWN OR STAY BEATEN!"

9:22pm… New York City Rooftops…

Scouting the city for one man amongst an entire city's population would be like trying to get hit by lightning- you weren't going to have much luck. Though that didn't stop Leo from barking orders,

"Okay guys, I know looking for one guy amongst an entire city population is a tall order- "he was then interrupted by Raph,

"Understatement of the century." He said in a deadpan tone of voice, but nonetheless, Leo continued,

"But we may have some luck. We just shadow some of the Purple Dragon criminals that he's targeting until he shows up. Or we end up finding some badly beaten Purple Dragons as we do so and just follow the trail from there." Leo had given the order and even though the other three turtles complied, it didn't stop Raph giving off a disgruntled grunt.

10:44pm…

It had been over an hour of scouring the rooftops, but they eventually found what they were looking for. In an alley down below, a lone woman holding a handbag was in the process of being mugged by some Purple Dragons, and even though Raph wanted to show them whose boss, he not only remembered what Splinter did to him to teach him about patience and keeping still in the shadows but he also saw the target of their search.

"Guys, over here." The other three listened and walked over to where Raph was looking down below and they saw what he saw.

Standing at the entrance to the alley, was the very vigilante they had been searching for. He wielded a hockey stick in his right hand and was tapping it against the ground so the noise attracted the attention of the thugs.

"Purple Dragons… come out and plaaayyyy…" he said in a taunting tone of voice as he approached the thugs,

"It's that wacko in the hockey mask! Let's get him!" one of the thugs said and with that the Purple Dragons charged the vigilante, and from above, Raph could only comment at the ensuing fight,

"Looks like this is gonna be good!"

One the Purple Dragons threw a wild swing at the vigilante only for Casey to counter by sidestepping and whacking the attacker with the hockey stick and knocked him to the ground, next up was another Purple Dragon who could only charge at Casey but didn't get the chance to attack as Casey simply smacked him on the top of his head with the hockey stick and knocked him to the ground. Casey then turned his attention the last remaining thug he flinched at the sight of him and didn't attack as Casey made the first move and swung his weapon at the thugs face and knocked him flat on his back. Casey wasn't yet done however as he then approached the downed thug he wasn't yet unconscious,

"I'm putting you punks out of business." Casey said as he raised his hockey stick up and swung across the thug's head with a loud _THUD!_ The thug then went limp on the ground, unconscious for sure. As were the other two thugs and during the scuffle, the woman they were mugging had run off from the alley.

Up above, the four turtles voiced they own opinions on the fight,

"Well that was quick!" Donnie said,

"Yeah, that was almost kind of lame." Mikey said, expressing his disappointment at a boring fight,

"But no killing." Leo said and although Raph didn't admit it out loud, he understood then that last night, he did in fact jump to the wrong conclusion and acted far too soon.

"We follow him to see what he does next, and we do not make any moves until it's absolutely necessary." Leo ordered and Raph then chose at that moment to express his own disappointment (albeit with sarcasm),

"You know, one of these days you're gonna just order an all-out assault, guns blazing!"

11:09pm… National Park…

Unaware of the four shadows that were trailing him, Casey went to patrol New York's National Park, a large open area that had beautiful green fields, ponds and trees. It was also a favoured hotspot for gang activity and it was no different for the Purple Dragons. Though like any gang activity, for whatever reason than to be shady, the Purple Dragons had opted to stay within the darker areas of the park that the trees provided. This was perfect for Casey, since the shadows played a role in unleashing successful surprise attacks. In one such dark area that Casey was hiding in, he spotted a small group of four Purple Dragons in an open area and they in the middle of what appeared to be a street weapons deal that consisted mainly of pocket knives. Any deal made by Purple Dragons was bad news in Casey's book and that was all the motivation that he needed.

The four Purple Dragons never knew what was coming, blissfully unaware of the vigilante in the shadows of the park until the shout of "GOONGALA!" suddenly rang in all four of their ears… three since Casey seemingly came out of nowhere and hit one over the head with his baseball bat. Surprised but deterred, the remaining three Purple Dragons and Casey circled each other until they ended up swapping places. For the Purple Dragons, it would be the next mistake they would make.

Hidden amongst the shadows in the trees, the four ninja turtles looked on atop the branches as the lone vigilante launched a surprise attack on the Purple Dragons.

"You know, for someone who isn't a ninja, that guy just pulled off a good surprise attack." Donnie said as he complimented the vigilante's actions but Leo just frowned at the statement,

"No Donnie. A good surprise is making sure you keep the surprise going. Because look…" at this Leo pointed to the vigilante and the Purple Dragons that were circling each other, "… that gang is no longer surprised."

"That guy could probably take 'em down, but I say we show him what a real surprise attack is." Raph said and Mikey piped up at this statement,

"Ooh! Can I do the honours?" Mikey asked as he brought out the kusarigama extensions of his nunchucks. Leo grinned at this and made the encouragement,

"Go for it, Mikey!"

Turning their backs to the trees was definitely a mistake that the Purple Dragons definitely did not see coming. After all, who would've guessed that a chain and hook would wrap around the ankles of one the gang members and drag him feet first into the darkness that the trees provided with him screaming at the top of his lungs? No-one would've guessed that, but alas it did happen and when it did the other three turned their attention to the dark area where the Purple Dragon was dragged off to, but Casey saw the opportunity presented to him and using his baseball bat, he attacked the two surprised Purple Dragons and knocked them to the ground. As one the downed gang members sat up holding his head with his right hand, the same chain and hook suddenly flew out of the shadows and wrapped around the man's hand and said man had only a second to be surprised as the chain dragged him into the same shadows head first with him screaming as loudly as his fellow gang member. The fourth and final Purple dragon opted not to let this happen to him, and decided to run away, but before he could even get onto his feet, the vigilante suddenly appeared before him and delivered a hard kick to the Purple Dragon's face, knocked him onto his back and rendering him unconscious.

Thanks to the help of whoever it was in the shadows of the trees, Casey brought about vigilante justice to the Purple Dragons once again. But he then turned towards the trees where his help came from.

The only reason why the Purple Dragons had stopped screaming a second after they were dragged into the dark was because they were met with a strong blow to each of their heads that rendered them unconscious. For now. Once the vigilante finished the fourth remaining Purple Dragon and turned toward the trees that they were hiding in, Leo gave his next order,

"Okay guys, we can now reveal ourselves. No-one else is around to see us." Leo said and at that, the four ninja turtles leapt from the shadows and into the vigilante's line of sight.

Although Casey had met the four turtles last night, he was still just as amazed and bewildered by the sight of them. Even more so when it seemed that the four turtles were helping him and not fighting him as one of them was doing last night. And yet despite this, Casey still felt the need to raise his baseball bat as if ready for another fight. Seeing this, Leo raised his hands as a show of not wanting to fight as he approached the vigilante but still kept his distance. Raph on the other hand had clenched his fists and readied himself to fight the vigilante again.

"Woah, woah! Easy. We're not here to fight." Leo said in hopes that the vigilante would listen, but when the vigilante's gaze was on Raph, Leo could see why he was ready to fight as he could see that Raph was just itching to fight. Leo looked towards Raph with a look that told Raph to stand down. Raph saw this and although no words were exchanged between the two, Raph still got the hint and relaxed his stance and simply folded his arms and looked away from Leo.

When Casey saw this action, he still wasn't convinced of their next action and kept himself ready to fight the four turtles. Leo saw this and continued talking,

"We just want to talk." Although Leo's intentions were honest, Casey didn't see it that way,

"Oh what? So you can talk me into putting my mask up and live quietly? Well boohoo! Cause that ain't happening! Not if I have anything to say about it! GOONGALA!" at that shout of that last word, Casey charged at the turtles, and Raph was quick to respond by raising his twin sai and charging ahead of his brothers (who were standing idle), and met the vigilante head on with his own honest intentions of wanting to fight being brought out.

 **Casey vs Raphael (round two)**

The moment that Raph and Casey crashed into each other with their weapons in a deadlock and the two trying to overpower the other, Donnie and Mikey raised their own weapons and tried to join Raph, but for whatever reason, Leo stood in front of them and kept them away from the two hot-headed combatants. Donnie and Mikey were confused, why wouldn't Leo let them help their brother?

"Leo? You do know it's all for one and one for all, right?" Donnie said and Mikey supported this claim,

"Yeah dude. We never leave a turtle to fight alone… even if he did ditch us once." Mikey said in support(ish).

"Agreed. But we only came here to talk to the guy to see if we are on the same side. Besides, when two hot-heads fight each other, the best thing to do is wait until they have blown off some steam. Unless, getting your faces caved in is on your list of things to do today." Leo said and when he did, Donnie and Mikey not only listened but agreed with that statement,

"I suddenly want to keep my head on." Donnie said in reference to Raph's strength,

"Yeah, let's just let them get on with it." Mikey said.

And get on with it, they did. After failing to overpower each other, they both broke away from each other, and Casey went on the offensive by swinging the bat at Raph's head, but as he did, Raph ducked underneath the swing and swung a kick at the vigilante's arm. The attack connected and effectively disarmed Casey of one of his weapons. Casey was not going to let that stop him, and pulled a hockey stick from the golf bag on his back. He swung at Raph's head with the hockey stick several times, but each time, Raph would either duck underneath or sway back, effectively dodging all the attacks. After Casey's last attack missed Raph, he did the same thing as before and kicked Casey's weapon out of his hands and disarmed him again.

"Hockey season's over!" Raph taunted,

"Yeah? Well baseball is IN season! Batter up!" Casey responded as he pulled out two more baseball bats out from his golf bag.

"Fine! Playball!" Raph said as the two began to circle each other before charging at each other once again. The two crashed into each other again with their weapons locked into each other,

"Stay outta my way, green… lizard… thing!"

"TURTLE! Tur-tle! That's what we are, Einstein!"

The two then broke away again and Casey went on the offensive again and swung his bats at Raph's midsection. Raph got hit by the bats and landed on the ground shell first. Luckily his midsection was also armoured by his plastron and didn't get the wind knocked out of him like it would do to a normal person.

"Like I care!" Casey said as he raised his bats and swung them down at Raph's face. Raph reacted and raised his twin sai up and blocked the attack and the fighter's weapons deadlocked again,

"Actually, I don't care either!" Raph said as he pushed himself up onto his feet and thrusted a kick forward into Casey's stomach. Casey fell backwards and rolled onto his knees and elbows and got up as quickly as he went down. "I'm still gonna kick your butt, just like I did last time!"

Casey wasn't going to take that lying down, so he charged at Raph with his martial arts target shield raised up. Raph tried to respond by stabbing at the shield with his twin sai but when the shield connected with his chest, the shield stopped the attack in its tracks and Casey pushed Raph back until he abruptly stopped and kicked Raph's midsection. Raph only staggered back and still remained on his feet and allowed the fight to continue on. Casey lunged at Raph in a shoulder tackle attack and Raph reacted by thrusting his palms forward at Casey's attacking shoulder and stonewalled the attack until he and Casey broke away a few feet from each other. Raph then took the offensive, he swung a round kick at Casey's head and when Casey blocked it with his martial arts shield, he then swung his bats at Raph's head who then dodged the attack by back-flipping away. Casey then attacked with the left bat, but Raph blocked it with his right sai, and then just as quickly, Casey attacked with the opposite bat and Raph blocked with the opposite sai, then when Casey attacked with the other bat, Raph ducked under the attack and countered by landing a successful punch to Casey's gut and then followed up by thrusting a front kick to his midsection. But Casey was not done yet, and with a surprising amount of retaliation, he swung his foot up high and the kick smacked right into Raph's jaw, sending him up off his feet then whilst in the air, Casey swung his bats at Raph who didn't have enough time to react as the bats connected with his midsection and sent him flying back until he hit his shell against a tree. Casey took the opportunity to charge at the downed turtle but Raph quickly got up and met the vigilante head on and shoulder tackled Casey in his ribcage which stunned him. Casey tried attack with his bats but as he was stunned the attacks were only half the power and speed and Raph easily dodged the attack before thrusting a punch to Casey's gut and then followed up by thrusting another to Casey's mask covering face which sent him staggering back and onto the ground on his back. Round two ended in Raph's favour.

Casey was beaten again, and although he wasn't going to admit that out loud and tried to get up on his own, his body just wouldn't allow it.

"Uh… I can't believe I just got my butt kicked again…" Casey muttered as he found the strength to at least place his hand on his head. Raph then approached the downed vigilante as he placed his twin sai back in his belt.

"Look I'm no fan of crooks and criminals either… but… ya gotta know… when to pick yer fights…" Raph said and at the last part of that sentence, Casey almost didn't hear him but he heard him as did the other three turtles who were watching and approached the two hot-heads.

"Oh, so Raphael has finally learned something important!" Leo said almost mockingly and Raph looked away from Leo with his arms folded,

"Yeah, whatever. I just didn't want… you-know-who dishing out another of his punishing lessons." Raph said as though it were the most obvious thing but the three brothers just snickered at this. Since they knew it was usually his way of admitting he learned his lesson. Casey looked on a bit puzzled at the scene before him and Raph turned to him,

"Picking fights with every single criminal you come across, sounds like a blast! But what if the next time you pick a random fight and the people you're fighting aren't the criminals you're looking for? What if their just ordinary people or other people who just made a mistake with the law? What then?" Raph said and although he wasn't thinking it, he acted just like Leo. Donnie and Mikey thought this but decided against saying out loud. Lest they find themselves wedged into a tree.

Casey listened to Raph who extended his hand out to help Casey up who took the hand and allowed Raph to pull him up onto his feet.

"Look, ya don't know what you're talking about." Casey said,

"Try me." Raph said almost like a dare. Casey didn't know why he did, but for reasons he didn't know, he lifted his mask off his face, revealing himself to the four turtles and made direct eye contact with Raph. The turtles were impressed with this amazing show of trust, even if they didn't know why.

"It's not a memory a like to recall…" Casey then recalled the events that happened that led to his vengeful acts against the Purple Dragons, from living peacefully(ish) with his Dad, going to school, training to be a Pro Hockey player and the terrible things that happened to him and his father, the Purple Dragons breaking into their shop and home, the Purple Dragon leader called Hun and the murder of his father, the fire that engulfed and destroyed his home and his decision to run away and fight rather than wallow in despair and wait for justice to be served.

As Casey was telling the turtles about the horrible events that happened to him in one single evening, they all looked downcast as they could only imagine what they would've done if Splinter had been killed. They shuddered at the thought and as Casey neared the end of his story he placed a hand on Raph's shoulder to lean on him as he could no longer look at him in the eye as he hung his head low as tears formed in his eyes and fell from his face. The turtles looked on and guessed that the vigilante had been keeping all his emotions bottled up and they burst as he told his emotionally damaging story. He needed an outlet and judging by the way he was leaning on Raph to keep himself from falling to his knees, now was definitely the time before all his bottled-up emotions and rage guided him to do something he would regret later.

When Casey was done with his tears, he once again looked Raph in the eye and withdrew his hand from Raph's shoulder,

"So don't tell me how to deal with Purple Dragons!" Casey said as his voice still had traces of being shaky,

"Just be careful, not choosing your fights right because of your anger can take yer down. Or make you act just like them!" Raph said and it was those words that dealt more damage to Casey than any of his attacks from their fight. The last thing he wanted to act just like a Purple Dragon thug. No. He had to be better than that.

"My… father… taught me about patience and choosing my fights… when I didn't get it the first time around…" Raph said and he knew he was going to regret mentioning his father figure and Sensei to a hot-headed vigilante.

"Patience and choosing fights… yeah, I can do that." Casey said as Raph's words sunk in,

"Well yeah, I mean, as much patience as a couple of hot-headed whack-bags like us can manage!" Raph joked and Casey caught on and joined in with the joke,

"Me? You're the only whack-bag here, doc!" Casey joked as he smiled for the first time since the murder of his Dad.

"Hey, I'm not half as crazy as you!" Raph said as he playfully jabbed at Casey's shoulder,

"Sorry, but for a little green dude, you are totally nuts!" Casey said as he also playfully jabbed Raph's arm, and noticing the similarities in their heights, Raph just had to point it out,

"Little? We're almost the exact same height! And anyway, I'm not the one running around in a hockey mask!" Raph said as his grin was growing and Casey just placed a hand over his chest as he said,

"I gotta protect my good looks! Besides, it looks cool!" Casey said with an equal amount of honesty and humour, "Besides, what about your friends here?" Casey then asked and Raph had to correct him,

"Brothers, actually." Raph said, "Meet, Leo, Mikey and Donnie." Raph introduced his brothers as he said their names as Mikey and Donnie waved hello (Mikey with more enthusiasm) and Leo simply nodded. "Ya already heard them call me Raphael, but just call me Raph." Raph said,

"And you can call me, Casey." Casey said as he held out his hand out for a handshake and Raph accepted the handshake but then the introductions were abruptly interrupted by a gruff voice in the backround, and it did not belong to any of the five present.

"Well, isn't this romantic!"

* * *

 **me: hey there! writing this chapter was a little more difficult than I thought, and i hope the results are to your liking! Until next time!**


	9. Weeds and Spiders

**me: hello readers! Hope you like this chapter. The previous chapter has indeed concluded Casey's story arc, and this chapter is a follow up to it, as Casey is no longer the main focus of the story. Hope you like it!**

* * *

May 2nd… 11:15pm… 2012… National Park…

It was most likely this exact scenario when Master Splinter was teaching Raph about unwanted consequences. When Raph revealed himself and his brothers to Casey the first time around. He was lucky that those unwanted consequences didn't catch up with him then. But a person can only hold onto that sort of luck for so long, and it was evident by the situation they found themselves in.

Casey, being the vigilante that he is, would have no doubt made himself an enemy of the Purple Dragons and with the four ninja turtles being with him at this very moment, he may have also made them their enemies as well. Though that was most likely Raph's fault. As soon as that gruff voice sounded in the area, Casey and the four turtles found themselves surrounded by a dozen of Purple Dragon criminals.

Unbeknownst to the five as Casey and Raph were fighting, one of the Purple Dragons that was seemingly knocked out earlier had regained consciousness and had called for help whilst he quietly slipped away until said help arrived.

" _So, this is what Master Splinter was saying about unwanted consequences…"_ Raph thought as the Purple Dragons surrounded Casey, himself and his brothers.

"Look at the freaks!"

"What's with the dweeby costumes?"

"This ain't Halloween!"

"You're goin' down, freaks!"

"And this is the last time you mess with the Purple Dragons, vigilante…"

The Purple Dragons were confident (or cocky), as they approached and taunted the turtles and the vigilante, however when the last criminal spoke as he looked at Casey, he recognized him almost immediately,

"Hey, I know you! Yeah, we totally burnt down yer place, along with yer bigshot of a Dad o' yers!" the Purple Dragon said and it was the same Purple Dragon with a dragon tattoo on his face that Casey also recognised during that horrible night. Casey saw red and was going to charge but Raph held him back. When Casey turned his head towards Raph, Raph gave Casey a look that he immediately understood; the five of them were going to fight together. If Raph hadn't done what he did, Casey would've charged ahead and gotten himself killed. That would not be how he would avenge his Dad.

 **The Turtles and Casey vs The Purple Dragons**

The Purple Dragons made the first move and the turtles along with Casey spread out to meet with their opponents, Mikey ducked under the swing of a crowbar and knocked the offending crook with his nunchucks, while Donnie deflected another attack with his staff and smacked his opponent across the head with the staff and the two Purple Dragons were knocked back onto their backs. Casey faced one criminal and when said criminal jumped at his head, Casey swung his bat at him and the airborne Purple Dragon was smacked and sent flying back, whilst at the same time, Raph had another airborne opponent coming at him and knocked his opponent at of the air with a strong hook punch. Leo, meanwhile found himself surrounded by four Purple Dragons, and as two charged at him from either side, Leo jumped up and performed a split kick on the two attackers and them onto their backs. Seeing that the Purple Dragons were going to be no match for them, Leo decided to make a small competition out of it,

"Hey guys, think you can rate my split kick?" Leo asked as he turned to Raph and Casey, who were effortlessly beating back two attackers,

"Sure Leo! Let me see it!" Raph said and Leo seemed happy to oblige as the other two attackers charged at Leo, seemingly oblivious to his capabilities. Leo jumped again and performed another split kick to the attackers and knock them onto their backs as well. Leo landed and held his arms out as if to say "Well?" as he grinned. Just then another Purple Dragon charged at Raph only for Raph to kick his stomach and knock him back without much effort, and then looked back to Leo.

"One more time!" Raph said and as two more Purple Dragons charged at Leo from both sides again, Leo was happy to oblige again and jumped again and performed another split kick against the attackers which knocked them onto their backs again.

"Ha! Saw that one!" Raph said as he grinned and placed his twin sai back into his belt.

"I give yer a ten!" Casey said as he held out his hands to rate Leo's attack a ten, whilst Raph held out his hands the same way but could only rate a six. Leo looked disappointed (sarcastically),

"Raph, only a six?" the moment he said this, a Purple Dragon charged at Leo from behind, and Leo responded by thrusting his elbow into the attackers face without even looking,

"Hey, it's all I got!" Raph said whilst beating back another attacker with another kick to the stomach.

The rest of the fight went without much of an issue; a nunchuck to the face here, a bat and a hockey stick to the head there, and a few more punches and kicks to everywhere else, and only one Purple Dragon was left standing and that was the one with the dragon tattoo on his face. And he was facing Leo and wielding a pipe and Leo was wielding his twin katana. The standoff lasted only a second before the two charged at each other, Leo expertly attacked and blocked with his twin katana while the Purple Dragon was a bit clumsy in his approach to the fight. The fight was over when slashed the pipe in a double vertical swing and when the attack connected to the pipe, the pipe fell apart at the clean slices in it.

"Uh oh." Was all he could say before Leo knocked him flat on his back with a flying kick.

The ninja turtles and Casey win this fight. At the end of the fight, the park ground was littered with bruised and battered thugs. Although Casey had won this fight, he could have very well have easily have been beaten… badly if he didn't have help from the ninja turtles. Raph also saw this and then fully understood what Master Splinter had been teaching him.

"Now do you see what Sensei taught us, Raph? About picking your fights poorly and suffering the unwanted consequences?" Leo asked, but Raph simply looked away from Leo, not wanting to say anything and his three brothers took it as a sign that he did in fact learn his lesson.

"Aaaawwww! Raphie's shy to admit it!" Mikey cooed and there were many things that Raph didn't like, one of them being called shy.

"I AM NOT SHY!"

"Aw, come on, Raph. It's _adorable_!" Mikey put an emphasis on adorable which really made Raph pissed off. Which was evident when Raph cracked his knuckles.

"Alright Casey, you'll like this show. It's called 'Does Mikey Bend that Way?'" Raph said as he began chasing Mikey around the area as Mikey screamed and laughed at the same time.

"Wow, you guys are totally nuts!" Casey said and Leo and Donnie responded with slight shrug of the shoulders and a "Yup!". But before Raph and Mikey could continue their merry chase, Leo decided to intervene by placing himself between the two just as Raph was about to throw Mikey over his shoulder.

"Perhaps you two should finish this when we're not surrounded by beaten up thugs that could wake up at any time?" Leo suggested and the two turtles agreed. Raph because he wanted to at least throw Mikey a bit, and Mikey because he wanted a head start.

11:44pm… at the corner of Eastman Land…

Perhaps being homeless wasn't going to be as tough as Casey initially thought. Not when his newest friends are mutants. He took this news surprisingly well, even better than April. At least he didn't scream like she did. But there was also a surprise for the turtles when they learned that Casey had taken up residence at the same abandoned warehouse that they were using to reach the Lair. Donnie had calculated that the possibilities of a young teenager being homeless, befriending four mutant turtles using the same warehouse he would be using, said boy being a vigilante and is also basically a human version of Raph, would be astronomically small. And yet it happened. The surprises were not going to stop there however. Although Casey wasn't as skilled at parkour and rooftop jumping like the turtles were, he could still keep up with the turtles… just. But that wasn't the surprise. The surprise would be just as they were about to turn the corner than would have led them to the abandoned warehouse. Down on the street below, a duo of Purple Dragons (male and female) were in the middle of mugging a helpless man (not surprising), and Casey saw this happen and so did the turtles.

"Guys, I'll be back in a second!" Casey said as he jumped from the rooftop and onto the fire escape that would lead him safely to the ground.

"So much for carefully picking your fights." Donnie said nonchalantly,

"It's going to be a work in progress." Raph said as he defended Casey.

Casey wasn't joking when he said it was only going take a second, as the moment he jumped from the fire escape and onto the ground, he quickly pulled his hockey stick from his golf bag and smacked the two muggers over their heads and knocked them down. The victim of the mugging took this chance to run away from the muggers and Casey. (still not the surprise). Once the muggers were down and the victim no longer being victimized, Raph and the other turtles jumped from the rooftop to ground level.

"Hey, I had reason to do what I just did." Casey said as though it were obvious, and the turtles didn't fault him for that. But then the two Purple Dragons had gotten up at that point and tried to make a break for it. Emphasis on tried, they only got as far as the middle of the street when they were stopped in their tracks by Raph and Casey. Raph by appearing out of nowhere in front of the male Purple Dragon and punching him hard in the face and knocking him on his behind, and Casey stopped the female Purple Dragon by hooking the back of her shirt collar with his hockey stick and pulled her back onto her back. It was then that the other three turtles walked in the middle of the street to join Raph and Casey.

"Ya know, I feel like bustin their heads and calling it a night. How about you guys?" Casey asked and Mikey responded first,

"Ooh! How about we just tie 'em up? Leave them here for the police to find?"

"I got no problems with that!" but it was at that moment that Leo spotted something from the other side of the street. Something that would definitely complicate matters and that something had also spotted them as well and it was coming their way inside a white van. The Kraang.

"GUYS, THE KRAANG!" Leo announced as he pointed out to the oncoming coming Kraang.

"The what?" but as soon as Casey was to ask, Raph had dashed from where he was to the side of the street, and then picked up a metal bin and threw it hard at the oncoming van. The projectile smashed through the windshield, and unable to keep control, the Kraang ended up swerving to one side and only stopping when the van crashed into a wall. All were on guard except for Raph, who folded his arms in and grinned at this,

"Well, that was easy!" but then a group of Kraang exited the van with their blasters and fired at everyone who wasn't a Kraang.

"okay…" Raph said as he realised that easy was the wrong word for it, and Donnie let out a slight yelp as he dodged along with the other turtles, the Purple Dragons simply ducked their heads as the laser blasts hit everything else but them and Casey also ducked and dodged to avoid the wildfire blasts. The turtles charged at the Kraang with their weapons drawn, and for whatever reason other than being bad shots, the Kraang were unable to hit their moving targets and the turtles were now within close combat distance from them. Casey meanwhile was trying to make sense of the scene before him from where he stood in the street and the Purple Dragon duo were also just as confused.

Now within close range, the turtles acted, Raph jumped from the side of the wall and stabbed one of the alien's blasters, effectively making it useless now, and then launched a jump spin kick to another's robotic head, he then just as quickly launched another strong kick to the stomach area of another Kraang where the main body was located and then proceeded to throw another over his shoulder. The alien ended up landing right next to the Purple Dragon duo as they flinched at the action. The chaos of the fight almost caused them both to be shot multiple times. Casey meanwhile had had enough of this and proceeded to join the turtles in their fight that he understood nothing about. He pulled out a baseball bat from his golf bag and wielded it alongside his hockey stick and shouted "GOONGALA!" as he charged the Kraang. Whilst one Kraang was busy shooting at Donnie (unsuccessfully), Casey took the opportunity and blindsided the alien by smashing its head with the baseball bat. Donnie now had room to attack another Kraang, he swung his staff at the blaster and disarmed the Kraang and then he did 360 spin attack and smacked the alien with his staff on its head. Mikey meanwhile was having no trouble dodged indirect shots and when he went on the offensive, the Kraang stood no chance as it had its head smashed by Mikey's nunchucks whilst said ninja did a Bruce Lee impersonation.

The Purple Dragon duo tried to take advantage of the chaos to try and quietly slip away, but the moment they reached the back end of the van, a wayward Kraang inadvertently knocked them both inside the van. Meanwhile, Leo and Raph were busy fighting a pair of Kraang but when Raph turned his head towards the van and saw the Purple Dragon duo inside the vehicle he made his move,

"Leo, I know they're criminals, but I don't think they deserve to be in the Kraang's hands." Raph said and whatever it was that the Kraang are planning for, no human should be caught in the middle. At this Leo agreed,

"Agreed. Go! Get them away from here." Leo ordered and Raph listened and headed to the van. Just as he did, another Kraang engaged Leo in combat.

Inside the van would seem like a good place to be safe to be away from the chaos outside of it, and with that in mind, the duo decided to stay in the back of the van. But when Raph entered the van with intent to get them out and away, a trio of Kraang also entered behind him (as ill luck would have it). As if that weren't bad enough, the Kraang driver had at that moment got the van working again, reversed from the wall and started driving forward down the street, with Raph and the Purple Dragon duo still inside it.

"Raph's in the van!" Leo said as he, his other two brothers and Casey dodged out of way of the moving van and when it drove away, they gave chase to it on foot.

Trying to fight off three animated robots with alien brains inside of them, in a small cramped space was hard enough for Raph, but when he got the upper hand and knocked the aliens down (temporarily), he turned towards the Purple Dragon duo,

"Let's get of here!" Raph said but the criminal duo did not listen,

"Forget it, we're not going anywhere with you, freak!" the male criminal said,

"Raph! Get out of there!" Donnie shouted as he ran after the van. The van wasn't going that fast so it was easy for the three other turtles and Casey to keep up with it.

"Listen, you idiots! Would you want to be safe in a prison cell, or be dissected by these guys- "it was then that one of the alien robots got back up and wrapped his arms around Raph's head and shoulders and unceremoniously threw him out of the moving van. Raph's flying body only stopped when he hit his brothers and Casey and all five landed in a pile of tangled limbs in the middle of the street.

With the van now speeding away from the turtles and Casey, with seemingly no way of catching them now, the Purple Dragon dup had to admit that they would rather be in prison than be in the company of whatever the heck these things were about.

Eventually, the tangled mess of limbs had gotten themselves out of the mess they were in and Casey was the first to question the situation,

"Okay, what the hell was that? Who were those people?" Casey said as he demanded an answer and Donnie was first to answer,

"Well, the better question is not WHO they are, but WHAT they are." Donnie said and when Casey just looked confused at this statement, Raph cleared it up for him,

"Those guys are little alien brains inside robot bodies and wearing human suits." Raph said almost nonchalantly and the response from Casey was one you would expect from hearing a statement like that.

"…-_-…"

"…"

"You're totally yanking my chain here." Casey's scepticism was understandable but it didn't change the situation.

"It doesn't matter what you think. Because right now, those guys have two idiot criminals in their hands and will do God only knows what! We have to get them away from the Kraang!" Leo said but as Casey was about to protest, Raph stopped him,

"Casey, prison would be a lot safer for those two right now." Although Casey wasn't comfortable with the idea of helping criminals instead of beating them up, he silently admitted that being kidnapped would definitely lead to something bad. Regardless of who the victim was.

"Still, that doesn't change things. How are we supposed to find them?" Leo asked and it was at that moment that Donnie spotted something on the road. It was a trail of petrol going in the direction that the van went.

"Look! The truck's leaking!" Donnie said as he pointed to the petrol on the road,

"Alright! We can follow the trail to their hideout!" Leo said and Raph grinned as he said,

"And then we'll bash some bots!"

Casey meanwhile thought to himself, _"This, I gotta see for myself."_

11:54pm… Outside the Kraang Base,

The van stops outside a seemingly run down building, but knowing the Kraang, on the inside the building was most likely very high tech. Not that the Purple Dragon Duo were aware of this, but when the Kraang held them at blaster-point, they were more concerned with getting out alive. The Kraang coerced the criminal duo out of the van, but when the male Purple Dragon exited the van, he somehow lost his footing and landed face first in a patch of weeds. Unbothered by this mishap, the aliens simply pointed their blasters at him and ordered him to get up and forced them inside the building. In their nonchalant and weird English way.

12:22am…

The trail of petrol had led the ninjas and Casey towards the same van outside a seemingly normal building in the middle of New York. On the outside anyway, but on the inside, it was a Kraang base. The five proceeded to climb up the building (the wall for the ninjas and the fire escape for Casey), and then entered the building through the rooftop entrance.

Inside the Building…

It was obvious to the five intruders that the Kraang didn't care much for keeping the place clean, as it was evident by the number of cobwebs surrounding many of the crates along with a few spiders. Donnie and Mikey were sneaking through together with Mikey in front of Donnie. When Mikey stopped for whatever reason, he also unintentionally made Donnie stop as well. So, Donnie decided to playfully smack the back of his head.

"OW! Hey, what was that for?" Mikey demanded and Donnie just smiled playfully as he answered,

"There was a spider on ya!" Donnie said but Mikey thought a bit of payback was in order,

"Well, theres a spider on you too!" Mikey said as he frowned at Donnie,

"No, there isn't- "but as Donnie looked about him to check, Mikey suddenly tackled him to the ground,

"Come here, you punk!". The scene that took place was a bit comical, Donnie lying back on his shell with Mikey straddling him as he continuously smacked the top of Donnie's head,

"Knock it off! OW!" Donnie said without sounding to plead as Mikey just kept up the assault but Leo had already had enough,

"HEY!" at the sound of Leo's voice, Mikey stopped the assault and both turned their heads to him as he shushed them. Mikey then got up from straddling Donnie, who also got up after him but not before Mikey raised his hand up as if to hit Donnie again. But instead he just walked after Leo. Raph and Casey saw all this happen, and Raph approached Donnie from behind and placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder,

"Hey, Donnie. Just so you know, I'm the only one who can hit Mikey." Raph said and Casey felt the need to ask,

"And why's that?"

"Cuz I'm the only one who can do it properly!" Raph said as he smirked. The five vigilantes arrived at the centre of the room and stayed in the shadows and saw that the building had a huge tank of Mutagen in the centre that also connected to other smaller vats of the same Mutagen.

"What is that stuff?" Casey asked as quietly as he could and Raph answered him,

"That would be the same stuff that caused us to mutate when we were just baby turtles." Raph said,

"No way…" was all Casey could say before their attention was drawn to the alien occupants in the room

Being tied down onto hard chairs and surrounded by armed alien robots was definitely a cause for concern. The Purple Dragon duo were currently experiencing this and the Kraang were discussing what to do with them,

"Kraang, Kraang proposes that Kraang should take the humans to the experiment that is the experiment of the Kraang."

"Kraang agrees with Kraang. I am knowledge that these humans are that which is known as 'Purple Dragons', and other humans will not take knowledge of these humans."

"Kraang, is the Mutagen ready for the experiment that is the experiment of the Kraang?"

"Yes, Kraang. The Mutagen is ready to be used in the experiment that is the experiment of the Kraang."

The hostage Purple Dragons didn't really catch on to what the aliens were saying, thanks to their bad English but the words 'mutagen' and 'experiment' made them go a bit pale. And from the shadows, the five vigilantes all decided to charge in with a pre-emptive strike with the element of surprise.

"GOONGALA! /BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey and Casey simultaneously as all five dashed from their hiding spot and charged at the Kraang. The aliens were more than surprised as they only had time to look at the direction the noise came from before the five androids were tackled and bashed away by the five offenders.

"Dude, you weren't kidding! These guys really are aliens!" Casey said as he tackled one of aliens away from the criminal hostages.

"Well, I don't wanna say 'we to you so', but… we told you so!" Donnie said after he smacked the robot on its head and knocking it to the ground.

As the two criminal hostages saw all of this happen, Raph took the opportunity to snap the bindings with his twin sai and the two Purple Dragons didn't need to be told to get up as they did.

"Okay, we did what we came here to do. Now let's get out of here." Leo ordered and the group of seven then proceeded in the direction of the rooftop. However, before they even took five steps, Kraang reinforcements arrived,

"Stop the ones that need to be stopped! Stop!" one of the aliens shouted as nine Kraang pointed their blasters at the group of seven,

"So, how is it that their English is so bad?" when Casey asked, all he got was a shrug of the shoulders from the four turtles.

The Kraang started to fire at the group of seven and Leo ordered the Purple dragon duo to hide behind one of the crates before dodging the laser blasts along with his brothers and Casey. The two criminals didn't need to be told twice as they ducked behind one of the crates. As the female Purple Dragon crouched down, she felt something crawl onto her hand. She was less bothered about the spider crawling onto her and simply brushed it away.

Once again, the Kraang were proving to be bad shots, as the five ran and dodged each laser shot and also getting closer to them. Leo was first to get in close to a Kraang and swung his katana at the robot's head and decapitated it. Donnie was next as he swung his staff at another robot's feet and swept it off and when the alien landed on its back, Donnie swung his staff down onto the squishy Kraang at the centre. Mikey was next, as one Kraang thought it had a good shot at Casey, Mikey used the opportunity took run up from behind it and using the sickle part of his kusarigama chain, he slashed out the throat section and disabled the robot.

Although the Kraang were focused solely on the five vigilantes, Raph had dodged all the laser fire and still somehow found himself standing in front of the very same crate that the two criminals were hiding behind. As soon as one of the aliens fired at him and he dodged. The laser hit the crate, and thinking it wasn't a good place to hide anymore, the male Purple Dragon ran from his hiding spot,

"Snake, wait!" the female Purple Dragon shouted and hearing this, Mikey turned his head to the two criminals,

"His name is Snake?" Mikey didn't have time to question it as he then had to dodge another laser shot.

The Purple Dragon called Snake had moved to another crate and hid behind it. But this crate had a canister of Mutagen on top of it. All were oblivious to this, and when Donnie had to dodge another laser shot, the shot had instead hit the crate that Snake was hiding behind, and the force of the shot had knocked the canister of Mutagen of the top of the crate and it fell right where Snake was crouching. Snake had only a split second to acknowledge the falling canister of Mutagen before it smashed onto his back and spreading its contents across his body.

It all happened quickly. When Snake staggered from his hiding spot and screaming, the fighting stopped abruptly and all eyes were on Snake. The moment they saw him, he Mutation began, his skin turned green and his veins popped outward, vines exploded from his back, his whole body twisted and writhed as he slowly grew to triple the size of a normal human and as he grew, his clothes were ripped into pieces. By the time it was done, he was not human anymore, his face contorted hideously, his eyes turned yellow and budged out the side of his head with a pair of antenna sprouting from between his eyes, his arms were now vie-like with plant-like claws for hands, what looked like his heart had somehow found its way into his throat and was visibly seen and his long legs bulged out to twice the width of a human leg that also didn't appear to have feet but his toes were visible and resembled spikes.

The vigilantes, the Kraang and the female Purple Dragon looked on at the scene and when it was done, the now mutated Purple Dragon looked at his new body and turned towards the vigilantes, enraged,

"You did this to me! Now you're going to pay!" even his voice was contorted into a hideous sound that made it sound like he had voice issues. The female Purple Dragon paled when saw this, while even though they were astonished, the vigilantes still spoke up,

"It's Snake! He mutated into a… giant weed!?" Leo said as he tried to make sense of it, while Mikey just looked at Raph with a confused look,

"That's weird. You'd think he'd get turned into a snake." Mikey said and Raph just shook he head and then said,

"Yeah, you would. If you were an idiot!"

"But his name is 'Snake'." Mikey said as he tried to defend his reasoning,

"So?"

"You don't understand science."

Their little argument was interrupted when Snake then announced his intentions,

"I'll squash you freaks into the ground!" Snake shouted out and Donnie nervously responded,

"…er… would it help if said it was an accident?" he said and when Snake's tentacles thrashed in all directions and his claws snapping at all of them, his intention was clear regardless of what happened,

"So, I'll put you down for a 'no'?" Donnie nervously said, the nerves were justified as Snake then swung his long vine like arm at everyone in front of him, which also included the Kraang. Leo was able to jump over the swinging vine-arm, while Donnie rolled back and underneath the attack and Raph and Mikey ducked down and avoided it, Casey and the Kraang weren't so lucky, as the attack plowed into all of them, resulting in them being thrown to the side. When Leo jumped up and over, he then made a leap towards Snake and swung his katana down onto the offending vine-arm and sliced off part of the vine and the claw. Snake screeched at the pain it caused as the pink coloured blood spewed from the wound at anyone who was around. Most avoided it but…

"Ew! Eeewww! Don't let it touch me! Don't let it touch me!" Mikey squealed as he crawled away on his shell to try and avoid the blood splattering on him. And then some pink blood splattered onto his leg. "Ah! It touched me!"

The others would have probably rolled their eyes at this, had Snake's arm not grown back and reform the claw at the end. Snake marvelled at his newfound regenerative ability.

"It grew back? No fair!" Donnie exclaimed and it was at that point that Casey and some of the Kraang that got knocked down had gotten back onto their feet.

"So, that stuff that spilled onto him. That was the same stuff that affected you guys too?" Casey asked as he walked to the turtles while keeping his eye on Snake.

"Yeah, but it wasn't THIS extreme!" Raph answered and then Snake hissed and screeched again and attacked the five with his multiple vines, Mikey swung his nunchucks to deflect them but he eventually got hit on the side of his shell and was knocked onto it, Leo was able slice off some the vines as they came at him but he too got hit by one of the vines and he too was knocked back onto his shell and the vines grew back, Donnie was also able to deflect some of the vines with his staff, but one vine managed to sneak a hit across his head and sent flying back and onto his shell, Casey smacked some vines away with his bat and hockey stick but then one vine wrapped itself around his waist and threw him to one side. Snake was so occupied with them that he didn't notice Raph run towards him from behind with his shuko-spikes equipped onto his hands and he ripped into Snake's long legs as he ran in between them, getting pink blood all over his hands.

"And… yuck." Raph exclaimed in disgust as he waved the blood off his hands. Snake growled at him and he then swung his vine-arm down at Raph, who then catches the vine and in an amazing show of strength, he used the captured vine to drag, Snake down to his level and once Snake's head was within attacking distance, Raph slammed a kick onto the top of Snake's head and slammed his face into the ground, he then used his foot on the head to spring himself over Snake's body and landed behind him. Snake turned towards Raph with his head still down and pointed his claw at him and opened it and shot a red tentacle out at Raph. The tentacle wrapped itself around his waist and flung him to the opposite side. Fortunately for him, Leo and Mikey were there to catch him.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey said and Leo and Raph turned their heads to him,

"Snakeweed?"

"Yeah. His friend called him Snake, and now he's a weed so- "

"We get it." Raph said as he interrupted Mikey. The Kraang then at that point, had decided to complicate things by pointing their blasters at everyone that wasn't a Kraang and fired. Leo, Donnie, Mikey and Casey dodged to the side and engaged the Kraang while Raph faced off against the newly named Snakeweed. Raph jumped up to Snakeweed's head and doubled punched his face and then landed, he then started deflecting all of Snakeweed's vine whip attacks with his shuko-spikes still equipped. Meanwhile the female Purple Dragon felt like she wasn't exactly safe hiding behind a wooden crate amongst all the chaos and ran from her hiding spot and moved behind a pile of crates that would surely provide a bit more protection than one. That was another mistake as she was standing right underneath a vat of sealed Mutagen.

Leo and Mikey were able to bash and slice a few of the remaining and working Kraang, but the moment two had started firing at them, they dodged to the side and so did Raph and the laser fire rained down and pelted Snakeweed relentlessly, this angered him and so he swung his vines at everyone in front of him and no-one was able to react quickly enough and the vine attacks smacked all, including the Kraang onto the ground.

"What's the plan again, Fearless?" Raph asked as he got back up onto his feet along with Mikey,

"I'm working on it!" Leo answered as he and Casey also got up again. They then had to quickly jump and cartwheel away as Snakeweed started attacking them with his vines. It was then that the few remaining Kraang got back up and fired their blasters at the turtles, Casey and Snakeweed. The turtles and Casey were able to dodge away, but Snakeweed once found himself being pelted by the laser fire. It was at that point that a stray laser shot smashed the glass container of Mutagen that the female Purple Dragon was under the contents spilled all over her just as it did with Snakeweed. She screamed the moment the Mutagen splashed her, and when her mutation started as well. Her screams caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Uh oh… here we go again." Mikey said nervously and even though they couldn't see her mutation happening thanks to the crates blocking their view. But when the screaming stopped, one Kraang ordered another to investigate,

"Kraang, go look at the place where the thing that makes the noise is, and tell us what thing makes that noise in that place."

Big mistake, as soon as it entered the shadowed area, it was then thrown back out like it was a ragdoll. The alien inside robot then popped out of its spot and ran off screeching in terror at what it saw. What followed was the sound of a monstrous sound that sounded like growling.

"I don't like the sound of that." Mikey said nervously and what appeared out the shadows made those nerves intensify. The female Purple Dragon leapt from the shadows behind the crates to reveal her new terrifying mutation. Her legs were replaced by a single large prickly black bulb, she still had her human arms, torso and chest, her head was a different matter, the mutagen had warped her teeth into pointed fangs, her two eyes were accompanied by six more with four on hear forehead and two on both sides of her face, her cheeks had also grown elongated mandibles and finally she had eight new spider legs that resembled spears and were attached to her back. Overall, she was a Spider mutant, with the spear like legs holding her up.

"I don't like the look of it, either!" Mikey exclaimed and he wasn't the only one who thought that.

"What... happened to me?" the new spider mutant said, her voice also mutated a bit as well. Before she sounded like a normal human being, now she sounded like a bloodthirsty killer. Snakeweed and the new spider mutant looked at each other and no surprise, they didn't recognise each other, the memory of what happened reminded them of what they should've looked like. They then turned to the turtles and Casey,

"You did this to us! I will rip your heads off!" the female spider morph said and the mutation must have given her an intense bloodlust because everyone in the room could feel it. The Kraang however didn't seem to care and before they even got the chance to fire their blaster at the mutants, the new spider mutant used her spear like legs and stabbed the two remaining Kraang though the fleshy middle, killing them both. She flung them away and then turned her attention to the turtles and the vigilante. They were in for one heck of a fight, but they will fight.

"Alright guys, prepare to dish out the mighty wrath of justice!" Leo said as he tried to imitate his favourite cartoon character, Casey was puzzled while the other three turtles just groaned,

"Seriously, just yell 'get them'." Donnie said and Leo turned to him while pointing his sword at the two,

"Get- "but Leo's order was interrupted when the spider mutant smacked Leo's plastron with one of her long legs and sent him flying into a nearby crate, when he hit it, the crate was smashed to pieces. When Leo got back onto his feet, the five split up, to fight the two mutants; Leo, Donnie and Casey faced off against Snakeweed while Raph and Mikey squared off against the Spider mutant.

Though Leo, Donnie and Casey were facing against Snakeweed, a question remained in their minds; how to defeat a mutant that can regenerate? They didn't have time to think on it as Snakeweed attacked. He swung his vine-arm in an arc at the three combatants, Leo and Donnie jumped over the attack while Casey ducked underneath it, Leo charged at the mutant slashed at Snakeweed's right leg, cutting through it, and even though it caused Snakeweed a lot of pain, his regenerative ability allowed him to push through it. Snakeweed then attacked the three with his whipping vines, they managed to step and jump to dodge and when Donnie and Casey charged at him with their blunt weapons, Snakeweed had no answer as their blunt weapons bashed against his left upper leg and left lower leg. Snakeweed staggered back but did not fall back. Snakeweed then forced them back by whipping his vines at them whilst also stepping towards them. When the attack finally stopped and they were at a safe enough distance, Donnie voiced the obvious question,

"How do we fight something like that?" Leo gritted his teeth as he tried to come up with an answer but couldn't as Snakeweed attacked again.

Meanwhile, Raph and Mikey were having trouble trying to make sure the spider mutant's spear legs didn't touch them. Though they were agile enough to keep away from them, they knew if they got hit by those spear legs, it would probably mean certain death. She attacked Raph and Mikey separately with her spear legs, but they jumped away from the attack then she tried again with Mikey, he jumped far to her right, he then attacked with the kusarigama chain extension, he flung the hook and chain at the four legs at her right and the attack wrapped around them and he pulled hard. The spider mutant lost balance and gave Raph enough time to attack. Which he did, he leapt at her with a flying kick straight into the left side of her face where one of the mandibles were. She lost more balance as she fell onto her side.

"Is that all you got?" Mikey taunted and in response, the female spider morph opened her razor-sharp mouth and spat an elongated white spider thread at them. The two turtles quickly jumped to the side and dodged it. Mikey just sweat dropped,

"The answer I was looked for was 'yes'…"

The spider continued her assault with her newfound ability and spat more white spider threads and them, they nimbly jumped and dodged each of them and the threads landed on the floor behind them, creating a large pool of threads. Raph was unfortunate enough to not be fast for one instant, and the spider mutants web projectile wrapped around his ankle. The thread was sticky and the thread had also stuck his foot onto the ground.

"Aw, shoot…"

"You'll be my first prey!" the spider mutant said as she charged at Raph who had no choice but to stand there until he would be at her mercy. Which didn't come however as Mikey used her own distraction and blindsided the spider mutant by smacking his nunchucks into her face. Though this dazed her, it only did so for a second as she then charged at Mikey, and grabbed him by the arms, Mikey yelped as she then slammed him shell first into the ground. She loomed on top of him and when he looked up, he saw her lowering her face to his and when she opened her razor-sharp mouth, he screamed as he came to the conclusion that she was going to start eating him. It never happened though as Raph (even though his foot was stuck), threw a hidden shuriken from his belt and the spider mutant. The spider morph only had time to glance at it as the projectile lodged itself into her left shoulder. The pain at the shuriken being imbedded into her caused her to stumble back and onto her side. Mikey took the chance to quickly scramble to Raph's side.

"Mikey, a little help here." Raph said as he motioned to his stuck foot. Mikey assisted and was careful not to cut Raph's foot with the hook of his kusarigama chain extension and even though the substance was sticky, Raph still unstuck himself when Mikey cut the threads.

"You know, Spider Bytez just got a bit more scarier!" Mikey said as he looked very nervous at the moment but Raph looked a bit puzzled,

"Spider Bytez?" Raph asked,

"Well she's a spider and she tried to eat me. So I thought- "

"I get it!" Raph said with an annoyed tone,

Meanwhile at the other fight against Snakeweed, Leo saw the sticky threads and something clicked in his mind,

"Guys, we need to get Snakeweed towards those threads." Leo ordered and when Donnie also saw the threads, he complied as did Casey. Now was the time, the three charged at Snakeweed, and when he swung his vines at them, the three dodged the attack by ducking underneath the swinging attack, then Leo rolled to Snakeweed's left side, he then jumped up and grabbed one of the vines and as he pulled, Donnie and Casey tag teamed against Snakeweed by smacking their weapons into his other side. This combination of pulling and bashing had Snakeweed stagger to his left and when he regained his footing, he also failed to notice he was standing directly in front of the large pool of sticky webbing.

"NOW! Attack together!" Leo ordered and all three jumped at Snakeweed. Leo thrust a mid-air kick to his vulnerable heart-throat while Donnie and Casey attacked the mutant's mid-section. The result was Snakeweed falling onto his back and even though the sticky webbing softened the fall, he was nonetheless trapped on the webbing and couldn't get back up no matter how much he tried to move. That fight went to Leo, Donnie and Casey.

The three victories combatants then joined Raph and Mikey who had also witnessed what just happened to Snakeweed.

"Awesome, dudes!" Mikey shouted,

"Yeah it was awesome. Now let's finish this!" Leo ordered and with five battle hardened warriors against a single new mutant out for their blood, it wasn't going to take long.

And it almost didn't. The five charged at Spider Bytez and although she attacked with her spear-like legs, it was of no practical use at this point seeing as the five had already dodged her initial attacks and by spreading out around her, thus stopping her from attacking at one point of area, which she was doing. Then they attacked all at once, Leo thrust a roundhouse kick to her abdomen, Raph pounded the right side of her face with the hilt of his sai, Donnie thrust his staff into her chest, Mikey shouted "BOOYAKASHA" and attacked the left side of her legs with his nunchucks and Casey shouted "GOONGALA" and attacked the right side of her legs with his hockey stick.

It was over in an instant. Spider Bytez didn't stand a chance against the five warriors, as it was evident from the way she was knocked onto her back and like a normal spider, she was struggling to get back onto her legs again. But eventually, she did but the instant K.O that was delivered to her made her realise that she was not going to win. At least not today.

"You will regret this." She said before she scurried away to the top of the building and exiting through the roof entrance/ exit.

"Booyakasha! Itsy-bitsy spider was no match for lean, mean and green!" Mikey chanted as he danced about, pleased with their victory over the new mutants.

"Great. She got scared off, now what do we do with him?" Raph said as he pointed towards Snakeweed,

"Good question, Raph. We can't free him, he'll either attack us or go after someone else, and because of his regeneration ability, he can't be killed I think. Best not test that theory out." Donnie said though that kill him theory was about to be proven at this point, as Spider Bytez started spearing the roof with her spear-legs repeatedly, the roof slowly getting weaker as a result of her onslaught.

 **The Roof…**

"I said you would regret this. And I will make sure of that." Spider Bytez said as she continued spearing the roof.

 **Inside the building…**

All above them, the turtles and Casey could see dust and small bits of debris falling all around them.

"Dudes, she's going to bring the roof down on us!" Mikey said slightly panicking at the thought of being crushed by falling debris.

"Let's get of here then!" Leo shouted as they then bolted for the front door and leaving Snakeweed stuck to the floor. Fortunately for them, the front garage door was open, and the reason why they didn't use it for infiltration earlier was for fear that the Kraang would have seen them coming. Wasting no time, Raph yanked the door open and all five exited the building. And just in time as well, since at the moment they exited, the roof finally gave way under its own weight and tumbled down into the building. The massive falling chunks of debris smashed and buried whatever they fell upon and that included Snakeweed. Looking back at the now weak building, Leo realised that the mission had failed. They had initially gone there to rescue the Purple Dragon duo from the Kraang, instead they were mutated (accidently), and their mutation caused them to become violent. And as Spider Bytez's shadow scurried away into the city and Snakeweed's survival being unknown, Leo looked downcast, as his brothers and Casey revelled in their survival,

"Guys, we shouldn't be celebrating." Leo said and that caught everyone's attention,

"We 'shouldn't be celebrating'? Leo, we kicked the butts of the Kraang and some new enemies. By my count, now's a good time to celebrate." Raph said as he sounded confused and the others looked just as puzzled,

"Celebrate? Raph don't you see what happened? We came here for a rescue mission. And we failed. They may have been Purple Dragon thugs, but they didn't deserve what happened to them." Leo explained. At the word failed, Mikey and Donnie looks of victory turned into disbelief,

"Did we really… fail?" Mikey asked,

"Actually, Mikey… I think we have…" Donnie said and when that caught Raph and Casey's attention, Donnie explained,

"What if it wasn't those thugs who were mutated? What if it was one of us? Or some other innocent bystander? And to make matters worse, the Kraang most likely have tons of the same Mutagen. And we overheard them talking about experiments. They could very well do this again." Donnie explained and at that explanation, the others looked back at the building, that at least one Kraang base is rendered useless. For now.

"Come on, guys… let's go home. We can continue this fight tomorrow night." Leo said and at that point, home sounded nice. Even staying at the abandoned warehouse sounded appealing to Casey after a night like this. At with that, the group of five walked away from the mess that was a Kraang hideout and towards home.

If they had stayed a couple more minutes, they would've seen Snakeweed rising and smashing his way out of the rubble. He had indeed survived.

12:11am… Foot Tower HQ… New York City…

At the top of the tower and inside the shrine, the hulking figure that is Hun was kneeling before The Shredder who was sat at a Japanese style table.

"Master Shredder, New York City's media has now been focused on all Purple Dragon activity, just as you wished." Hun said as he kept his head down,

"Excellent, Hun. Now that this city has focused its spotlight on the Purple Dragons, we can now begin with Phase One." It was at that point that the Shredder pulled out a remote and pressed a button. A large monitor then slowly descended from the ceiling and activated to reveal Dr Stockman in a lab. Because the Shredder had gauged out his left eye, there was now an eyepatch covering his missing eye but it did not cover the straight scar where his eye was slashed out.

"Yes, Master Shredder?" Dr Stockman said,

"Dr Stockman, I have some tasks for you to fulfil. I trust that these tasks have already been sent to you?" the Shredder said,

"Yes, Master. Though with these tasks, it is going to take some time to complete. At least a week or so." Dr Stockman said,

"Very well. I can afford to wait for now." He then pressed another button on the remote and the monitor switched off and then ascended back into the ceiling.

"In the meantime, Hun, send the order to Chris Bradford to have him and his Foot Ninja units to patrol the city. I want them to report to me about any potential threat." The Shredder ordered,

"It shall be done, Master."

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hope you like it! I decided to give Spider Bytez a re-imagining since I thought he wasn't very threatening in the 2012 cartoon, considering he was a Spider Mutant. I also hope you liked Snakeweed and Spider Bytez's new origin for this story, and I also promise you that you will be seeing more of them. Until the next chapter!**


	10. Bonding over Pizza

**me: hello readers! Sorry this new chapter took so long (and in fact, i'm not even sure if it's that good), but here it is! I blame my lack of social skills for this one...**

* * *

May 3rd… 7:46pm… New York City… April's Apartment and Antique Shop…

Being alone in an Antique shop had definitely given April cause for concern for her own safety, her Aunt had promised her that she wouldn't be long when she said she had to leave for little while to arrange some business deals for the shop. Although that was only an hour ago, April wondered when her business deals were going to be finished. She got her answer when her Aunt called her via the home phone to apologise for taking too long and to announce that she may be stuck doing the deals until late. After that phone call, April made one of her own to call for some reinforcements.

8:19pm…

Thanks to Donnie's tinkering with gadgets, he learned how to create a homemade cell phone earlier on in the day and when he announced it to his family, he proudly called the 'T-Phone'. Much to Mikey's chagrin who said he would've called the 'Shell Cell'. But it was Donnie's invention so he felt the need to name it first. Anyhow, it was this invention that Donnie felt the need to visit April earlier than usual (6:30pm to be precise) to trade phone numbers (eagerly). He was of course accompanied by his brothers at this time and was still accompanied by them on a random rooftop when April called him for the first time and inadvertently caused him to be gobsmacked that she called so soon. When she asked for help, the turtles responded and on the way to April's temporary home, they spotted Casey looking for trouble and decided to stop him from whatever fight he was looking for and invite him along to meet their other human friend.

 _*Ding-Dong*_

The sound of the shop's backdoor bell ringing brought some relief to April as she was not alone and that her bad-guy fighting mutant friends were here. Her relief was all but cemented when he she opened the door and saw Donnie on the other side.

"Hey, you guys!" April said, glad that her call was answered,

"Hey, April!" Donnie just stood there outside the door, smiling goofily, waving slowly and after those two words, he suddenly couldn't find anymore.

"Would you… like to come in?" April suddenly asked and rather than wait for Donnie embarrass himself in front of her (even though it would have funny), Raph simply pushed him forward and inside,

"Come on, Donnie, before you take until midnight to get inside!" Raph said as he was pushing Donnie inside, and a second later, Mikey and Leo also entered behind them. Leo then thanked April and then said,

"April, I hope you don't mind but, we also brought along a friend." Leo then used his thumb to point to the door and when Casey stepped in and saw April, the two couldn't believe their eyes.

"April?"

"Casey?"

To find out that the two humans somehow knew each other was a bit surprising for the four turtles who just stared at the two, as the two humans also stared at each other. Seconds ticked by and wanting to break the tension, Casey suddenly broke eye contact with April and walked further into the shop and then April shut the door.

"So… er… nice place you got here, Red." Even though he just called her 'Red'. Donnie knew that although they somehow knew each other, Casey had somehow was on a nickname basis with her, and that ignited the feeling of jealousy inside him.

"It's my Aunt's, and don't call me 'Red' either!" April then realised why he was here; he was with the turtles. "But… that's besides the point. How do you guys know each other?" April asked which made Casey slightly downcast, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to tell his tale.

"It's a bit of a roller coaster ride, Red." Casey said as he looked down, and the turtles looked towards each other as they knew his story. April saw all five of their reactions and decided to lighten the mood.

"Well… maybe you can tell it over pizza?" April said and Mikey beamed at the idea,

"Good idea! Pizza's good comfort food after all" Mikey said as he smiled from ear to ear,

"Mikey, you would eat pizza at the drop of a hat!" Donnie said but then Mikey just looked confused,

"But we don't wear hats." This just caused Donnie to facepalm and April just managed to stifle a laugh but it also helped Casey lighten up a little,

"Ya know… pizza does sound good… I say let's do it." Casey said,

"Great, I'll call for a delivery, and we can wait for it upstairs. You guys can make yourselves at home!" April said as she brought out her cell phone,

"Are you sure that's alright April?" Leo asked and before April hit the dial button on her phone, she answered Leo,

"Yeah, of course it is. My Aunt says that since my Dad's disappearance, I need to socialise a bit so that I don't start obsessing over it." April said and she was right; socialising would help in the long run and taking this as a good answer, the other five then walked from the Antique shop to the apartment upstairs.

When they exited the shop to the flight of stairs, and therefore leaving behind a bit of sad tension, Donnie felt the need to ask something that was going to be asked eventually,

"So… you and April know each other." He said which also peeked the interests of his three brothers. But it didn't stop the five of them from walking up the stairs

"Yeah… before it all… went to hell on me… April and I went to the same school. Roosevelt High. But we barely knew each other, we hung out for lunchbreak once, and well, that was it." Although it sounded legit to Leo, he still noticed something,

"And yet you feel the need to call her 'Red'?" at this, the feeling of jealousy rose up again within Donnie but Casey just chuckled at Leo's question,

"Well, she didn't like me calling her 'babe'!" it was safe to assume that Donnie's skin colour went from green to red. And they called Raph a hot-head. Leo and Raph then surmised that Casey was and maybe still is flirty around girls, and before Donnie blew up at him, the five boys found themselves in front of the upstairs door and opening it to enter April's temporary home.

The apartment had a very lived in feel to it, like many a home it had a couch up against a wall and had a reasonably sized table with another living room chair next to it and a TV on another smaller table on the opposite wall, the surrounding windows had red curtains as cover, and just a few steps away from the small living area, there was also a kitchen counter, with everything any other person would find in a kitchen; sink, fridge, oven, cabinets of food and drink. And across from the kitchen there were two doors, one that led to the guest room that April was using and the other door led to her Aunt's room.

The boys had entered through a door that stood next to the couch, and April did say to 'make themselves at home', so they did. When April entered the room, she saw that Casey and Raph were sitting on the couch and chuckling, something about Donnie's chances with something, Mikey was sat on the other chair, looking fully relaxed, Leo was leaning on the kitchen counter with Donnie next to him, and Leo was trying to listen to whatever it was Donnie was saying but all he could hear was scientific jibber-jabber. It would have a very normal scene, if four of her friends weren't giant green humanoid turtles.

"Okay, guys. I've just ordered two pizzas for delivery." April said as she walked in and Mikey grinned at the mention of two pizzas,

"Sweet! Two pizzas! You da best, April!" Mikey announced and April got the meaning behind Mikey's mentioning of two pizzas,

"One pizza for half the people in here, Mikey. In other words, for three people each." April said almost nonchalantly but inwardly chuckled at the mental image of barfing down two large pizzas.

"And also, you're not gonna scoff down one whole pizza just because ya can! I swear, if you do that, I'll beat the green of ya!" Raph announced whilst shaking his fist at Mikey to emphasise his point.

"How many times has he done that?" Casey asked and when Donnie answered him, his face was a mix between amusement and disgust,

"Since we discovered pizza, he's done that twice. I still don't know how he is able to stomach an entire pizza…" Donnie said and he was right, most human beings can't handle eating one entire pizza by themselves and usually keep the rest in a ridge as leftovers, but not Mikey. Perhaps it was just another part of being a humanoid turtle. Or as Raph pointed out,

"Maybe it's cuz his stomach is actually a black hole!" Mikey took mock offense to this,

"Hey! My stomach is not a black hole. My stomach is awesome!" Mikey said as he stood up from the chair and patted is stomach, to which April held back a small laugh and the others just grinned and smiled.

It was moments like this that despite the obvious differences between the four turtles and the two humans, all six in the room were still kids. Teenagers that can spend moments like this together.

8:35pm…

 _*Ding-Dong*_

It didn't take too long for the sound of the doorbell to interrupt the friendly bantering, but when it did, Mikey almost jumped through the ceiling with excitement that (in his mind) the most delicious food on the planet had arrived. When April collected the pizzas, and paid the delivery boy and returned to the upstairs apartment, she was greeted by the amusing sight of Mikey being held back by Raph and Leo (both of whom were struggling) with his own kusarigama chain, and Mikey vibrating intensely like at any moment, he would launch off at the food like a rocket. The sight made Donnie sweat-drop and Casey tried to keep from laughing.

"So, is this how Mikey is around pizza?" Casey asked when he stopped giggling,

"He is around pizza, and it has been a while since the last time we ate pizza." Donnie answered and judging by the way Mikey was giving Leo and Raph a hard time and with pizza in his sights, April and Casey wondered what would happen if the hyperactive turtles got loose… pizza disaster probably.

"Alright, Mikey. You know what the idea is, right? You SHARE with two of your brothers." April said and seeing that Mikey had only stopped vibrating ever so slightly, she increased the ante, "Or you get no pizza at all!" those words made Mikey stop dead in his tracks before he made them. The thought of not having pizza when it was right in front of him whilst everyone else ate them, filled Mikey with a sense of comical dread. And when that happened, Leo and Raph loosened the chains as he was no longer trying to go for the pizzas.

"NO! NO, YOU CAN'T! I'll be good! I swear!" at this he was practically on his knees and begging for it not to happen. The sight of which made everybody sweat-drop minus Raph. And yet despite this, April put on a smile for Mikey,

"That's good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Now then, without further ado… let's eat!" April announced and Mikey responded with a very loud "BOOYAKASHA!". One of the pizzas was shared between Leo, Raph and Mikey whilst the other was shared between Donnie, Casey and April. Whilst they ate, April felt the need to bring up a previous topic regarding Casey,

"So… we agreed Casey. Now that the pizza is here, you said you would talk about how you guys met." April said but even though Casey agreed that he talk over pizza, he was still pretty much uncomfortable with it. But he was a man of his word, and after a few seconds of silence (minus the sounds of chewing), Casey made the first sentence,

"Well, it's kind of a wild story, Red." When Casey said this, April made the link that whatever meeting with the turtles was going to be a wild one. Hers first meeting was no exception. "I'm pretty sure you've heard of a fire at a local sports shop?" when Casey asked and April nodded her head in agreement,

"Yeah… I heard about that. Not through the news but from word of mouth. Why?" Casey looked down toward the floor, avoiding eye contact,

"That was my home." April gasped when those words left Casey's mouth, "A group of Purple Dragons did more than that… they… my… Dad, he…" April got the general idea when Casey was struggling with his words,

"Oh! Oh, Casey… I'm so sorry…" April felt for him. Her father was kidnapped by aliens but there a glimmer of hope for her to be reunited with him, she dreaded what would happen if her father wound up dead. The other turtles looked a little sad at hearing this again,

"After that, child services tried to put me in an orphanage. But… I couldn't let that happen." April got the meaning of this and looked a little forlorn,

"You ran away?" April said and Casey nodded in agreement,

"So now I'm homeless. A homeless person with a lot of… issues with the Purple Dragons. And that's how we met. I was in the middle of bashing in the heads of some scumbags, when Raph here thought to get in on the action." April was saddened to hear that someone she knew (if only a little) had become a homeless person but her face then took a look of a sudden realisation at the other part of Casey's story,

"Wait… YOU'RE the vigilante that's all over the news!?" April said as she pointed towards Casey, who then responded with a peace hand sign and grinned at April. "So Raph helped you take out some thugs?" April expected some sort of a yes but Casey's response made her a bit deadpan.

"Actually, Raph decided he wanted to fight me instead!" it was then that Mikey chimed in with a teasing tone in his voice,

"Yeah, dude! He made like ten mistakes then!" Raph glared at Mikey for this,

"I did not!" Raph said but it was Leo who supported Mikey's claim,

"He's not wrong, Raph." Leo said and Raph glared at the two of them while Mikey chuckled,

"Dudes! You should have seen what Master Splinter did to Raph as punishment! You could've farted in his face and he wouldn't have been allowed to move!" Mikey all but laughed when he finished and it caused Leo and Donnie to lightly chuckle at the statement, and seeing as he wasn't joking per se, Casey and April also joined in chuckling, but then Casey continued once he stopped laughing,

"Long story short, I didn't win. And the next time we saw each other was when I was laying the smack-down on some more thugs. We fought again… and… I… lost again." Casey was reluctant to admit that he lost twice but April encouraged him to continue, "And then after that, we got ambushed by like a dozen of thugs! And we totally teamed up and beat them all black and blue! It was awesome!" April thought that Casey's description of the story was a little lacklustre, but she also got the gist of their first meeting.

"Wow, that's sounds like a very exciting first meeting." April said but was taken aback when Casey grinned towards her,

"It gets even more exciting from there, Red! Cause after that, on our way home, we ran into some aliens!" although Casey was excited as he announced their encounter, April looked to the turtles in confirmation,

"He's right, April. In fact, there the same aliens that took your Dad." Leo said in confirmation and April was stunned upon hearing this, and Casey looked towards April also feeling a little stunned when he heard 'same aliens',

"Really, Red? You've encountered those aliens before?" Casey asked,

"Yeah, these guys saved me from them once before but… they couldn't save my Dad… he's still out there…" when April said this, Casey couldn't help but feel supportive. He had already lost his Dad to violence but if there was a chance that he might've survived, Casey would do anything to save him.

"You know, that reminds me, April." Donnie suddenly said which brought April's attention to him, "We've learned a little bit more about those aliens. For starters, we overheard those aliens talking to one another and they were calling themselves 'Kraang'." When Donnie finished talking, April repeated the name of the aliens,

"The Kraang…" she mumbled. She would now never forget the name of the aliens that caused her a fair share of her torment.

"We also saw what their Mutagen can do to a person first hand." Donnie said,

"Yeah, it was like… totally weird. I still say that one guy would've turned into a snake!" when Mikey said this, his three brothers just groaned,

"Mikey, we've been over this. Just because that guy's name was Snake doesn't he was actually going to turn into one." Leo said and Mikey's response made everyone deadpan,

"You know, you're just like Raph, Leo. Neither of you understand science!" Mikey's statement was followed by several seconds of stunned silence,

"…anyway…" Donnie said to broke the ice and brought everyone back to earth, "For whatever reason, the Mutagen altered their appearances, not like our own where we just got bigger. It looked as though it altered their DNA. As to why they mutated into a weed and a spider, I don't know." Donnie said and although April took Donnie's description more seriously, it also made her very unnerved to hear what the Kraang's ooze can do to a person. But she didn't have time to be unnerved as Casey picked up on the story,

"More than that, Donnie. They turned on us when we were trying to rescue them. And even though we won, one of them still tried to drop part of the building on us. But of course, that didn't work. And now here we are!" Casey finished the story in rather lacklustre way but April didn't hold it against him.

"So, Red." Casey then said, "These guys saved from those aliens as well then…" Casey said and then on cue, April gave her side of the story,

"Yeah, so, me and my Dad were on our way home when we were ambushed by the Kraang. I screamed, we made noises, but no-one was around. Save for you guys." April said as she pointed towards the turtles, "I still don't understand how no-one heard us all out in the open like that…" now that April said it, the four brothers could open and close their mouths as they tried to come up with an explanation but couldn't. No matter how many times they replayed the events in their heads, they always came to the same outcome; there was no attention gained.

"Well anyway… it wasn't a very good first attempt at a rescue, you know?" April said as they pondered how they didn't attract attention, which peeked Casey's interest,

"Really? How so?" Casey's question was answered by a highly amused Raph,

"Well, we weren't really a good team then, so we ended up hitting each other instead of the Kraang, getting in each other's way, trying to kill each other instead of the Kraang and April screamed at Donnie's horrifying face!" Casey looked at Raph waiting for some kind of punchline but after a few seconds of not getting a punchline, Casey looked towards April, then Raph and once again between the two before he burst out laughing at the scene. Raph laughed with him, and although Mikey didn't really find it too funny, he got caught up in the laughter and joined in. Leo and April weren't laughing however for different reasons of their own (April was trying to hide a blush of embarrassment) and Donnie wasn't laughing for obvious reasons. It was moments like this that made April wish it would last forever. But like all good things, it must come to end at some point.

9:29pm…

 _*RING RING*_

For kids like April and Casey, moments like these would be pretty common. Sharing pizza, laughs and moments together. However, for mutant teenagers like the four turtles, moments like these would most likely be rare and so, they treasured this moment right up to the point when April's home phone rang. April answered the phone and of course it was her Aunt telling that she finally got things sorted out and that she was on her way home. The moment between the six teenagers was nice while it lasted and maybe they will have more? Who knows.

"Was that your Aunt, April?" Leo asked and when she nodded in confirmation everyone in the room knew that it would be time to call it a night. They had a pleasant night so no-one was complaining about it.

"She's on her way home now, so I guess this means that… you guys will have to leave now." April said. Donnie and Mikey wanted to protest a bit (Mikey wanted more pizza), while Leo, Raph and Casey were already prepared to leave from April's room and outside balcony. But within a moment, all five boys were on the balcony and exchanging 'goodbyes' and 'see ya soons' before jumping onto the roof and racing off into the night.

For the turtles, moments like the one they had with their human friends would be with them forever, especially since it was their first one and they hoped that when they got home, they would have more moments like that in the future. Given the lives they were currently living, they would have to be strong enough to see it through, which they will no doubt make sure of.

* * *

 **me: hey there! just a little bonding session between the teens. this may seem pointless to a lot of people, and it may seem like useless fluff to a lot, but I felt like not putting the characters through only dangerous situations. In others words, I did this to help lighten the mood a little since i felt that the previous chapters were lacking a little in terms of lighthearted moments. But that's what i felt anyway. Anyway, in this next chapter we see the debut of Bradford. See you then!**


	11. The Foot's Next Move

**me: Hello readers! Just to give you a head ups on this chapter, it is largely the same as the episode 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' from the 2003 cartoon. Except this chapter has a few major changes in it. Enjoy!**

* * *

May 7th… 4:49pm… 2012… Foot HQ… New York City…

Most people would be annoyed with how long it takes for a task to be completed, and they would also be annoyed if the person in charge was also the same person who failed them once before. However, The Shredder wasn't most people. He seemingly had enough patience to tolerate the time it was taking for Dr Stockman to do what he was assigned to do. And with a team of engineers keeping him in the loop on what Dr Stockman was doing, Shredder knew that things were going smoothly. His patience was rewarded today when he got a call from said Dr, and he answered by pressing a button on a remote that lowered a screen monitor from the ceiling, and when it activated, it revealed the image of Dr Stockman in front of a very large cannon like machine.

"Dr Stockman, what's your status on your assignment?" The Shredder asked almost mechanically, which somehow made him look more intimidating. Though Dr Stockman didn't seem to notice,

"Well, as you can see behind me, the machine that you have ordered will be ready. All it needs is that component- whatever it is- to power it." Dr Stockman said, clearly not understanding what the missing component was going to be. But the Shredder seemed to know what this missing component was.

"Excellent. If that it is all." The Shredder then turned off the monitor and it slowly raised back up into the ceiling. The Shredder then turned towards one of his ninjas lurking in the shadows of the building.

"Bring me Chris Bradford."

8:45pm… Abandoned Tunnel Sections… New York City…

It had been days since their encounter with Casey, and since then, the turtles have been busy. Their numerous visits to local junkyards, had given Donnie enough materials to create some new toys for him and his brothers. A broken skateboard, some metal and a few wheels allowed to repair the skateboard for Mikey, a pair of old roller blades that he remade for Raph, a battered bicycle that he repaired for himself and an old scooter that he remade for Leo to use. Once finished remaking and repairing their new toys, Mikey suggested that they take them all out for a 'test drive'. His brothers caught on that 'test drive' meant 'fun time' instead. Not that they objected, in fact, they were all for it.

Mikey was skateboarding at speed down one of New York's many hidden underground tunnels and having the time of his life. "He is the Alpha Dog, the Thrash-miester, the undisputed God of the Half-Pipe!" one BOOYAKASHA later, and he was somehow skateboarding on the ceiling before racing back on the ground.

"Who needs half-pipe, bro? When you've got full-pipe!" Raph said as he was racing just a few feet behind Mikey and bellowed out loud laughter as he was somehow doing the same thing as Mikey- racing on the ceiling before resuming on the ground. Mikey then made a sharp turn at the next corner that lead to the Lair, with Raph following close behind. Meanwhile it was a race for third as behind them, Donnie and Leo were trying to get the upper hand on each other for third, not caring that the four of them had somehow gotten into a race and also not caring that Mikey won the race by entering the Lair first. They were having too much fun with their new toys. Once Leo and Donnie had entered the Lair, fun time was far from over, Donnie had somehow decided to redecorate the Lair with various ramps and curves that were perfect for the four of them now. Donnie raced towards a curved ramp, "Going for aptitude!" Donnie announced as he then took to the air like a BMX daredevil and landed with the skill of one. Leo was next, taking the same curved ramp and doing 360-degree spin in mid-air before sliding on a wooden table and then landing, wheel first on the ground to continue "Going for grind-itude!" Leo announced. It was pretty much fun noise for everyone in the Lair. Well… almost everyone. For one particular rat ninja master however, all he wanted was a nice quiet day. But he knew he never going to get that on any day. Master Splinter exited the kitchen with a tray with a kettle of tea, a teacup and some muffins. He made his way over to his bedroom, being careful not to get in the way of his rowdy sons. "Excuse me, sensei!" Leo said as he raced by Master Splinter who kept the tray of snacks from being slammed into. Once Leo raced by, Splinter let out a sigh. He had then just about made it to his bedroom door when… "Heads up, sensei!" Donnie shouted as he jumped into the air with his bike and Master Splinter ducked down to avoid contact, "I mean down!" Splinter let out another sigh as he then kept the tray up in one hand so he could use his other to open the door. He had just opened the door when… "Hey, thank you, sensei!" Mikey said as he raced by. Splinter had wandered what he was thanking him for, but when he looked down at his tray, he noticed that Mikey had stolen one of his muffins. He would be impressed if he wasn't so annoyed. Maybe karma will catch up them. He entered his room when suddenly the lights when out and the Lair became pitch black.

 _*CRASH* *BANG* *CRASH* *CRASH*_ and then four "OW"'s.

Splinter loved karma at this moment, though he had wondered what happened to the power.

"Nice wiring job, Don!" Mikey said with sarcasm, to which Donnie responded,

"I guarantee you, it's not my wiring. Maybe it's a blackout?" Donnie said and then Master Splinter lit up a candle, which illuminated the Lair just enough so he could see the carnage: Leo had landed shell first near the bridge, Raph had somehow face-planted onto the floor next to him, Donnie was lying down on a ramp and it looked as though Mikey had crashed face first into the wall.

"Clearly there is a power failure. I suggest that you investigate, and see if can be fixed." Master Splinter said as an order.

"We're all over it!" Mikey said first as he flipped the skateboard up and placed it between his belt and shell, Raph retracted the wheels on his boots, Leo folded his scooter together and placed it between his belt and shell and Donnie did the same with his bike.

"And take your time if you have to." Splinter said as they exited the Lair. He said this in hopes that maybe they will take their time and he will have more quiet time to himself.

8:58pm… New York City Rooftops…

It was a very rare sight for New York to be without any power. In fact, at this moment almost half the city was without any power. But that wasn't what worried Leo at this point,

"You know, I don't think that Master Splinter meant we should investigate THIS far!" Leo said but his worries were heard by no-one as Raph answered his statement,

"You can be too thorough! Especially when it comes to topside time!" Raph said and as they took another look at the powered down part of the city, at this hour, it was absolutely dark.

"This whole side of town is dark. A sub-station must have gone out." Donnie confirmed which just seemed confuse Leo,

"This isn't right. Shouldn't there be some emergency lights or something?" Leo asked,

"Yeah, it's totally dark down there." Raph said at which point an idea came into Mikey's head,

"Which means, there's only one thing for us to do!" he said and his three brothers knew what it was he was thinking and Raph and Donnie were all too happy to agree.

9:01pm… New York Museum… Ground Level…

"FUN TIME!" Mikey, Raph and Donnie shouted out as grinded along the rails and flipped and span in mid-air, but when Leo slowed to a stop on his scooter, he was concerned,

"Guys, you really think we should be doing this? What if somebody sees us?" Leo said and Raph answered him as he skidded to stop in front of him,

"That's the beauty of it, Leo! No-one WILL be able to see us, it's pitch black!" Raph said as he grinned and Mikey backed him up,

"Get with the program, bro. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to session some surface terrain! Booyakasha!" he said but as he did, Donnie skidded to a stop on front of his brothers with a look of concern on his face,

"Hey guys, check this out!" He said as he pointed to the museum roof. When he and his brothers looked up to the roof of the building they saw two what looked to be ninjas climbing up the walls and entering the museum through the glass roof.

"Are those guys… ninjas?" Leo said,

"Ninjas in New York? Other than us? I thought we were the only ninjas in this city." Donnie said,

"And what are they doing breaking into a museum?" Mikey asked,

"We should investigate." Leo ordered and with that, they followed after the ninjas into the museum.

9:02pm… Museum interior…

The inside of the museum had everything a person would expect to find in a museum; old vases, fossils, banners, an old weaponry. This was just one section of it and as the turtles entered the building, they stayed within the shadows and got a better look at the intruders. They were both approaching a beautiful looking katana that was inside a glass casing. Only one of the two was wearing an all-black ninja garb with a katana sheathed on his back. His face was completely concealed but could see through the yellow eye sockets of the balaclava. The other intruder was much bulkier than his partner and instead of his ninja garb being black all over, his was red with spiked metal shoulder pads, spiked armguards, shin guards and torso guard that extended to a leather flap at the front. The outfit was completed with a metal helmet that completely covered his face. They took another look about to see if the coast was clear and as they did, the turtles got a better look at the one in black. He wore a symbol on the front of his garb and the turtles had recognised it. A red spiked foot like symbol.

"Guys, do you see what I see?" Donnie and all three responded, they all knew what they were.

"The Foot."

 **(Flashback)**

 _September 23_ _rd_ _… 3:13pm… 2007… The Old Lair…_

" _Gather around, my sons." Master Splinter said. He had asked them to come to the dojo part of their home and when they did as he asked of them, they were wondering what it was that their Sensei had planned for them. Normally when they told to gather like this, it was because there would be changes to their training routine. However, when Master Splinter began talking, it was clear that it was not the case here and now._

" _My sons, you have all made good progress in your training. And I feel it is time you learned of your possible future encounters." Master Splinter said and only waited a few seconds for a response from any of his four 11-year-old sons. As it turned out, Leo spoke first,_

" _Sensei, do you mean what we might find on the surface?" Leo asked,_

" _Yes, Leonardo. In time, you will be ready for the surface world and its many wonders. And also, its many perils. We are here now so I can tell about one such peril that I myself have faced many times before. This one such peril is a danger to anyone who crosses them. Another ninja clan that goes by the name 'The Foot'." As he said the name of the clan, Mikey looked a little confused,_

" _Are they called that because they are a clan of feet?" Mikey's innocent question was answered by snickering from his brothers,_

" _Nah, Mikey! They call themselves that because it's no hands allowed!" Raph said sarcastically and at this all but Splinter and Mikey were laughing._

" _Yame!" Splinter said and after a few short snickers later, the laughter stopped. "The reason as to why they are called 'The Foot', is a mystery to all but themselves. But if you should encounter these foes- and I really hope with all my heart that you don't- do not underestimate them. Ever." The seriousness in which Master Splinter's tone took made all four turtles listen to him intently. "The reasons for their existence is unknown, theirs goals are unknown but one thing is clear: any who they consider an enemy are never seen alive again, and when they are seen again, they are always dead." This statement made all four turtles cower a bit. Mikey latched onto Raph's arm like he just saw a horror scene while Raph, Leo and Donnie shrunk a bit._

" _Why are you telling us this now, Sensei?" Donnie asked,_

" _I am telling this now, because if had told you any sooner, it would have tainted your training. Telling you now as you are now is probably the best time to tell you, as I have faith that the four of you will help each other not to lose sight of why we train together. The stories that I will tell of 'The Foot' will be dark, but these will be just that. Stories. Stories that you all learn from." Master Splinter took a moment to collect his thoughts when Leo raised another question,_

" _Sensei? If we ever encounter these enemies, how will we know who they are?" Leo said and Splinter answered by first pulling out a piece of paper from his robe,_

" _You will recognise these foes by the symbol that they all wear. This is that symbol." He then handed out the piece of paper to his sons and on it is a clear drawing of a three toed, spiked red foot._

" _Where will we find these creeps?" Raph said as if he wanted to fight them already. Master Splinter gave a slight scowl but answered him anyway,_

" _You will not find them in this country. And I hope to Kami that they never come to America. But for now, let us resume with the day. We will talk more about this on other days."_

 **(End of Flashback)**

9:03pm… Museum interior…

Ever since that day, Master Splinter held nothing back with his stories and experiences with The Foot Clan. Some stories had a nice and happy ending that helped to inspire the turtles to do better in their training to ensure similar endings. Other stories however, kept them up at night. Splinter would always feel guilty about it afterwards but in the end, it had to be done. He had chosen those times in order to make sure that hearing the stories became just another part of their lives and that they can also use his experiences to make sure those bad endings don't happen with them. But there were no guarantees. Even something like the situation that as before them now could bring about a bad ending for this particular experience. Something as simple as the theft of an ancient Japanese sword at the hands of The Foot had to be stopped. The bulkier ninja stood in front of the glass casing and successfully picked the lock which somehow didn't set off the burglar alarms. He then put on a metal glove with The Foot's symbol onto his left hand and then reached into the glass casing to steal the sword. It was at that moment that a shuriken came flying out of nowhere and embedded itself on the edge of the casing.

"Giftshop is on the first-floor boys! But they don't take kindly to shoplifters. And neither do we." Leo said as he and his three brothers revealed themselves from out of the shadows they were hiding in and the two other intruders turned to face them. Though the bulkier ninja was bewildered by the sight of the four mutant turtles, he nonetheless proceeded to steal the sword despite their entrance, but when he tried to reach for the sword again, another shuriken flew out from their direction and embedded itself next to the other shuriken that was stuck into the casing,

"Now before you make off with the goods, you might want to consider a few things: one, you're outnumbered and two, don't let the pretty faces fool you! We're tougher than we look!" Raph said as he appeared to be a bit smug. But that smugness was wiped off his face when at that moment, about a dozen or so ninjas in the same all-black ninja garbs suddenly leapt from the shadows of the museum and surrounded the four turtles,

"And three… we're about to get our butts seriously hammered!" Mikey could have really chosen better words for it but it didn't change the fact that he may have been right. The unit of ninjas closed in on them and the four turtles drew out their weapons for a fight with their newest foes.

One Foot ninja made the first move, he charged at Leo with his staff and Leo responded with charging in then ducking underneath the ninja's swing of his staff and then countered by slicing through the middle with his katana. The ninja was undeterred however as a pair of blades then extended from one ends of the now broken staff. The ninja then attacked again with his bladed weapons and Leo used his shell to block the attack. The block was successful as the blades shattered against his shell and Leo then shoulder tackled the offender in his ribcage which sent him flying backwards and crashed into another Foot ninja. "Phew! Saved by the shell!" Leo commented.

"Check it out! Blades and blades!" Raph announced as he extended his boots roller wheels as he held his twin sai. Raph charged at a group of five ninjas, and one of them also charged at him with a single katana. When the two met, Raph jumped and flipped over the ninja's head as the Foot ninja slashed at where his stomach would've been and the missed attack provided a clean cut across an unfortunate vase. "You break it pal, you bought it!" Raph said and then he raced away from the ninja and said ninja gave chase. The ninja was just behind when Raph slammed a kick into his midsection and sent him flying backwards and he slammed into a conveniently placed Chinese bell.

Meanwhile, Donnie unfolded his bike and raced towards one of the ninjas who held a spear. The moment Donnie and the Foot ninja were in arm's length of each other, Donnie flicked his bike up and the wheel smacked into the ninja's jaw which sent flying across the room and crashing into a conveniently placed Samurai Armor set. Donnie then brought out his staff and "CHARGE!" charged at another Foot ninja with his staff pointed forwards and the ninja also charged at him with a pair of twin sai. The ninja had no answer for Donnie's attack as the staff slammed into his midsection and sent him flying back and crashing into a conveniently placed vase.

Mikey meanwhile was racing towards a group of ninjas on his skateboard with a nunchuck in each hand, grinning all the while, "BOOYAKASHA! Bowling for ninjas!" Mikey said this as he tackled one ninja which sent him crashing into a group of his unit and they ended up in a pile of tangled limbs. Mikey got a little cocky for his own good, as he was racing around on his skateboard and making a 'You can't catch me' noise, a kusarigama chain flew out from the direction of one Foot ninja and wrapping itself around Mikey's left wrist. The ninja pulled on the chain and Mikey was pulled towards him. However, as Mikey came with inches of another attack from the same ninja, he flicked his skateboard forward and it was slammed into the ninja's midsection which sent stumbling onto his back.

Meanwhile, Leo was having a bit of trouble fending off three katana wielding Foot ninjas, "A little help here?" Leo call for help was answered when Raph and Donnie charged in with their weapons and raced to help with their bike and roller blades, they tackled two of the ninjas away while Leo disarmed the third and then launched a spin kick to the ninja's head.

Meanwhile, Mikey extended the kusarigama chain from one of his nunchucks and flung it towards the bulky ninja, who appeared to be the leader of the unit. The bulky ninja responded by allowing the chain to wrap around his right wrist and showed his strength by yanking on the chain and bringing Mikey with it. Mikey had no answer as he was yanked away from his skateboard and the bulky ninja caught Mikey by his throat. As the bulky had the mutant turtle by the throat he could only make one question, "What are you?" he asked before Leo jumped in and slashed his twin katana down and the ninja's arm. The ninja responded by quickly letting go of Mikey's throat and brought his arm back before Leo's katana could slice through it. He then countered by launched a powerful kick into Mikey's plastron and then he grabbed Leo by his wrists and spun around 360 degrees before throwing him in the same direction as Mikey. The result was Mikey crashing into Raph and Donnie and when Leo was thrown in their direction Leo completed the mess of limbs and shells. With the turtles untangling themselves, the bulky ninja used this time to steal the old Japanese sword from the open glass casing using the metal glove on his left hand. With the sword in his hand now, he used hand signals to order his unit out of the museum. His followers obeyed and within a moment's notice, they were escaping the building.

"Double time! They're getting away!" Leo ordered but that order was ineffective as all but the bulky ninja remained. The turtles had to at least prevent the theft of the sword. The bulky ninja set off after his followers but as he did, the four turtles cut him off from his escape route.

"Just put the sword back, Sparky, and we'll call it a draw." Raph said as he spun one of his twin sai in his left hand. The bulky backed up a little and gripped the sword with both hands and to the surprise of the four turtles, the blade of the sword began to glow a bright blue. The bulky ninja looked at the glow of the sword and then at the four mutants in the room, he then pointed the sword at them at then another surprise came as the glowing sword emitted a powerful shockwave that not only propelled the four turtles back and crashing into a wall, but the shock also emitted a laser like sound that echoed off the walls of the entire building. Using the opportunity presented to him, the bulky ninja once again made a break for it. This time without the turtles' interference, he leaped from the ground floor and up to the balcony and then finally climbed to the ceiling where he and his followers escaped through the open glass ceiling windows. The turtles recovered after that and picked themselves up,

"…uh… best two out of three?" Mikey said but Donnie had a bigger question in mind,

"Ow… what was that sword?" he asked as police sirens suddenly echoed outside the building,

"Hold that thought, Donnie. We gotta book!" Leo ordered and not wanting to be on the news, the four turtles escaped from the museum the same way that the Foot ninjas did.

9:22pm… The Lair…

When his sons returned home looking like they had seen better days, Master Splinter face took on a look of worry. His face took on a look a great concern when the turtles told him what happened on the surface. He had no doubt that the Foot were responsible the city's blackout and complete power failure so that they could steal that sword. But it was as he always feared; The Foot had come to America and were in New York.

"We don't know what that sword was, Sensei. But, it is clear that in the hands of the Foot, that thing a very dangerous." Leo said as he finished explaining to Master Splinter but as usual, Mikey had to ask,

"But what do they want with a magic sword?" Mikey asked but Donnie was quick to respond,

"Nope, not magic. Probably more like a self-perpetuating oscillation frequency generator." Donnie said which made his brothers deadpanned and confused by whatever it was he just said,

"Um? In English, Einstein?" Mikey asked to which Donnie answered,

"It packs a shockwave that'll knock you flat on your shell!" he said and at this, Raph brought out his twin sai and was itching to fight the Foot again,

"We gotta go after these creeps!" he said but Master Splinter turned to him with a stern look,

"No! A wise ninja does not seek out a dangerous enemy with a weapon they have no knowledge of." Master Splinter said which caused his sons to look at him with faces of concern,

"But, Sensei… bushido demands that we fight for honour and justice and…- "but Master Splinter interrupted Leo at this point,

"Bushido also demands that you honour your Master's wishes!" he announced before turning around and headed for his bedroom, "I will meditate upon this matter further. Good night, and do not even think about going after the Foot at this time." He said before entering his bedroom and closing the door. Mikey then turned to his brothers looking like he got grounded,

"Under-grounded again…" he said but Donnie had other ideas, and after a second of thinking, he clicked his fingers like he just thought of something, and walked towards his computer at his workbench,

"Where are you going, Brainiac?" although Raph had said this with the intent sounding it like an insult, even he knew that when Donnie had an idea, it was usually a good one… usually…

When Donnie sat at his workbench and typed on his computer, his brothers gathered around him,

"There's more than one way to seek out your enemy." Donnie said as he typed on his computer. Or rather, computers since Donnie had for some reason had five monitors

9:22pm… Meanwhile at Foot HQ…

Even though the Shredder was expecting results from Bradford's latest mission, he still had make sure that he still the undisputed and feared leader of the Foot Clan. So, when he entered the tower shrine, there awaiting him were four Foot ninjas and as he entered the shrine and closed the door, the ninjas bowed approached him and then bowed to him.

Training start…

The four ninjas looked a little nervous about fighting the Shredder because one thing was sure when training with him, it usually ended with said people needing medical attention, however light or heavy the damage. But orders were orders, and one ninja unsheathed his sword and attacked Shredder, he leapt up and slashed downward but the Shredder countered stepping back slightly and kicked the ninja who still in mid-air and sent flying back onto and skidding across the ground. The next ninja swung his kusarigama chain at Shredder who dive rolled out the way and jumped far across the room (no normal human could have covered that much distance- even a trained one), and as another tried to attack Shredder from behind, and he responded by performing a back kick into his stomach before using the same foot to somersault himself forward and fling the ninja into another approaching ninja. It was then that Shredder spotted the bulky ninja from the museum robbery enter the shrine from the shadows, without his helmet on. On his face, he had big brown hair accompanied by a big brown beard, a large nose and blue yes. Shredder noticed that the bulky ninja was carrying a sword on a cushion and covered by a grey cloth and the Shredder knew what it was,

"Ah, Bradford- "he began but he was still in the middle of a workout, "-one moment." He ordered and the bulky ninja he called Bradford stopped approaching. The four ninjas then charged at Shredder and when they were close enough, Shredder kicked one of the attackers in the jaw and knocked him back, the other two got similar treatment, as the one with the kusarigama chain was kicked the stomach and the third was punched in the throat. The two were knocked onto the floor and the third ninja was disarmed of his katana to which Shredder armed himself with, he blocked the fourth ninja's katana swing with the katana in his right hand and countered by launching a roundhouse kick into the attacker's ribs and knocked him to the floor.

Training finished…

That was a walk in the park for the Shredder as he left the four ninjas groaning in pain on the floor and approached Chris Bradford who then kneeled and presented the sword to his Master.

"I trust you bring good news." The Shredder said as he expected as such good news, he was not disappointed as he removed the cloth from the sword. It was the same sword that Bradford had just stolen from the museum. The sword's blade looked to be just like any other but the hilt is what made it stand out; the hilt appeared to have gold swirling around the hilt, the guard also appeared to be gold and spiked upwards with the blade and at the end of the hilt looked to be a gold dragon mouth.

"The Sword of Tengu." Shredder said as he smiled and marvelled at the sword, he then grabbed the sword by the hilt with his left hand, without the metal glove. "Still just as potent, after all these years! And back to its owner." The Shredder said who then pointed the sword to glass casing with his armour inside of it. When he did the sword glowed blue, "And still able to locate other artefacts that share its unique origin. Yes… this sword will help me track those who I've been hunting for all these years!" when Shredder finished marvelling at the sword, Bradford used this chance to voice his concerns about his mission,

"Master, retrieving the sword did not go as smoothly as you predicted." This brought him Shredder's attention momentarily, "We ended encountering the same creatures that confronted Baxter Stockman some time ago."

"I see." Shredder said as his face took on a scowl,

"But they were no match for the sword's incredible power. It was as you said, Master." Bradford said which to satisfy his Master. The Shredder then placed the sword back onto the cushion that Bradford was still holding.

"Bring this to Tech Division. Tell them 'Proceed with the next phase'." Shredder ordered.

11:45pm… The Lair…

Although Donnie said, "There's more than one way to seek out an enemy", it was still taking him a while to do just that. By at which point, Mikey got bored, Raph got impatient (threatening the computer was not going to make it work faster), and Leo waited patiently by going over one of his ninja forms. To satiate his own boredom, Mikey sat on the sofa, snacking on crisps while reading one of his favourite comics. Though at one point, Mikey turned his head in the direction of Splinter's room,

"So, what's with Master Splinter? He's been zoning in there all night." Mikey said with concern and even though Leo was still doing a form, it didn't stop him from talking to Mikey at the same time,

"It must be the reappearance of the Foot Clan. It's got sensei all worried. And probably with good reason." Leo said and in the background, Raph was listening in on the conversation whilst also beating the poor practice dummy relentlessly.

"Enough with this waiting around! I say we head topside, kick ninja butt, take ninja names, and find out the whole ninja story for ourselves!" he then did a few spins and then launched a kick at the dummy's head so powerful that the head was ripped off its shoulder's and went flying into the packet of crisps that Mikey was snacking on. Mikey flinched a little,

"Woah, remind me to never get on your bad side, dude!" Mikey said to which Raph nonchalantly replied,

"Too late."

He then proceeded to try and leave the Lair but Leo jumped in front of him to stop him from leaving,

"Hold on, Raph. No-one goes anywhere without a plan of action." But then a second later, they did have a plan of action,

"Guys, check this out! I hacked into the power company's computer system. Looks like there's another blackout and power failure by the South Street Seaport." Donnie announced and when he did, something clicked in their minds (minus Mikey). A second blackout and complete power failure in a different part of the city in one night? Not a coincidence.

"I smell a rat. And I don't mean Splinter." Raph said and then he proceeded to leave the Lair again with Donnie and Mikey following close behind but once again Leo protested.

"Hold on, guys, Master Splinter told us-" but Raph interrupted him,

"Master Splinter told us not to 'go after the Foot at this time', he didn't say anything about investigating blackouts." That was a bit of a stupid loophole that Raph pointed out, but it didn't stop him or Donnie and Mikey from walking out of the Lair. Donni seemed excited about something,

"Excellent! I have a few new surveillance toys I want to try out." Donnie announced as he walked alongside Raph and Mikey. And Leo reluctantly followed,

"…oh… wait up! It's tough being a leader…" He said as he too exited the Lair. Little did they know that Master Splinter had exited his room and saw them exit. He would be so proud of them… if he also wasn't so worried for them.

11:58pm… New York City Bridge… near the South Street Seaport…

Standing on top of one of the bridges large pillars, the four turtles could see that the area they were in was in total darkness. Just like earlier during the museum robbery.

"Total blackout! Just like earlier tonight…" Raph said, while behind him, Donnie was reaching into a bag that he brought with him,

"But this time, I came prepared." He brought a strange looking pair of tech-like goggles, which Mikey took from his hand and placed them on his face. With the goggles on, Mikey could now see clearly in the dark as if it were daylight,

"Awesome! Total turtles-vision!" Mikey said to which Donnie corrected him,

"Night-vision, actually." He then brought out three more night-vision goggles for himself and Leo and Raph. However, there was still the problem of trying to find out what the Foot were going to do in the area, which Leo pointed out,

"How are we going to survey a large area. The Foot could be anywhere." But Donnie was already reaching behind his back as he answered,

"I came prepared for that too." The other three turtles had noticed that Donnie had a strange contraption strapped onto his shell and when Donnie found what he was looking for, the contraption sounded a _*click*_ before unfolding and extending itself until a glider like device had fully sprouted. It was definitely a glider.

"I've been dying to try this puppy!" Leo picked up on what Donnie meant by this,

"You mean, you haven't tested this yet?" and then Mikey confirmed this,

"Dude, how is he supposed to fly this thing in the sewers or the tunnels?" Mikey said,

"We'll stay in touch with the T-Phones." Leo should have known better than to ask, but he did anyway just to confirm,

"T-Phones? I thought there was only one." To which Donnie answered,

"Leo, it's been days since I made the first one, and it really didn't take me that long to make it. So I decided to make a few more." He handed out three more T-Phones for his brothers to use, which they took without a second thought, "I've worked out the aerodynamics on this glider, it's practically foolPROOOF!" at this Donnie ran and jumped off the bridge and thankfully, the glider did exactly what Donnie had designed it to do and he smoothly glides across the air, "WHOA!".

"Don? Don! Are you okay?" Leo said over his T-Phone, but Donnie was having trouble trying not to crash into other parts of the bridge and everything else. When he got enough space to glide and talk, Donnie answered him,

"Yeah! Yeah! Everything's fine! Just forgot to compensate for the wind drag on my staff. Heh!" eventually though, Donnie was able glide without the worry of crashing into anything, and then he was able to see something at one of the docks,

"Guys? I think I've found the Foot." Donnie said,

"You have? Great, where are they and what are they doing?" Leo asked,

"They appear to be searching for something under the water." He then used his tech goggles to zoom in the large cannon like device that was on the dock. "They have that sword they stole from earlier rigged up to some sort of vibrational cannon. I'm over Pier 16." Donnie said and his three brothers immediately began running towards the pier. Donnie then decided to see if he could get a closer look at the cannon from the air. However, he got too close to the cannon's vibration energy-like beams and completely lost control of his glider, "WHHOOAA!", from atop the bridge, Leo could see Donnie trying to regain control of glider and fail miserably,

"Donnie! What is it?" to which Donnie replied,

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! I'M GOING DOWN!" Donnie shouted through the T-Phone before crashing into the river. Luckily, he didn't splash too hard, in fact the glider had inadvertently took most of the damage. Now submerged, Leo grew ever increasingly worried for Donnie,

"Donnie? Donnie! Are you there? Say something bud!" Leo said as he had just arrived at the entrance to Pier 16 along with Raph and Mikey. In the river, the glider was completely in tatters and though repairable, it was not going to get repaired now. Seconds afterward, Donnie emerged from the water.

"Man, this water really stinks! And this is coming from a turtle who lives underneath the sewers!" relief filled his brothers after hearing Donnie's complaining over the T-Phone and they let out a relived "YES!".

After the confirmation that Donnie survived crashing into the river, Leo, Raph and Mikey continued down the pier and along the way, they would regroup with Donnie at some point. As they closed in on the dock where the cannon was placed and they could see it clearly, Leo spoke to Donnie on the T-Phone,

"I have a visual on the cannon. I only see two guys… but that just means the others are hiding…" this was confirmed as when the three turtles proceeded to head for the docks, a group of Foot Ninjas suddenly jumped from one of the surrounding ships and halted their advance on the dock.

"I hate it when you're right, Leo." Mikey said as he armed himself with his nunchucks. And Leo and Raph did the same with their own weapons and all three sprang into action. Leo used both of his katana to block one ninja's katana swing and then countered by kicking the ninja's abdomen. He then leapt up from where he was and onto the ship where two more Foot Ninja were waiting for him, and just before he landed, he launched a split kick onto the heads of the awaiting ninjas and they stumbled onto their backs as a result. Leo then reacted quickly as another katana came down onto his head and blocked it with both of his katana. He then swung both of his katana in an arch which momentarily made the offender stagger, he used that instance to jump kick the ninja, who could only receive the blow and get knocked overboard.

Meanwhile, Donnie swam from the river and back onto dry land, but a bit further away from the cannon than his brothers. As he began to run to assist his brothers, Donnie was attacked by two Foot Ninja who jumped from a warehouse roof. As they were about to reach the ground however, Donnie swung his staff like a bat at one of the ninjas and swatted him away into the river. He then had to block high with staff as the second ninja landed and swung his katana down, Donnie then countered by swinging horizontally with the staff across the ninja's head and batted with into the same river. He then used the staff to launch himself from the ground and up onto a stationary ship (a different one from the one that Leo was on), and soon found himself attacked by two more Foot Ninja.

When Raph jumped up onto the ship that Leo was on, he made the mistake of climbed up the ship's mast by its net when there were two Foot Ninja at the top of the mast and both were armed with a sickle. One of the armed ninjas, took the opportunity to slash the net with his sickle and just as Raph was about to reach the top, he then started to plummet. He would have surely been seriously hurt if he had hit the deck level, but fortunately, he reacted just in time as stabbed the ship's mast with one of his sai and stopped himself from falling any further. Just in time was right as he was very close to hitting the deck hard, he was just a few feet away from falling flat on his shell. Although he saved himself, he still growled with anger, "Grrrr. Why you…!" the two ninja who were on the mast then met with Raph on the deck below and Raph himself unstuck his sai from the mast and safely landed on the deck to fight the two ninjas.

Whilst all of this was going on, the two Foot who were operating on the cannon had just enough time to complete what they were assigned to do; the sonic-like cannon that was pointed at and blasting the river had managed to separate the river. If a person was looking at it from above, they would have seen a massive whirlpool shaped hole in the middle of the river with the sonic-like cannon keeping it up.

"We found what we were looking for, bring in aerial support." One of the Foot said into his wrist-communicator.

Meanwhile, Mikey was slowly backing up on the deck. And with good reason; in front of him were three Foot Ninja and he was having trouble trying keep his priorities straight. Should he fight them as his brothers were, or shall he do it whilst doing a bit of role-playing?

"Avast, yer scurvy seadogs! Arrrgghh! Shiver me timbers! Blow me down!" role-playing it was and as he backed away from the ninjas and trying to be a pirate, he failed to notice a fourth ninja directly behind him until said ninja thrusted a very powerful kick into Mikey's shell. Mikey let out a pained grunt as the kick launched him forward only to be caught by the three Foot Ninjas. The three ninjas held him down onto his knees by pinning his arms down but Mikey could still move his head and when used it to turn to whoever it was who attacked him from behind, he got a clear view of who it was. It was the same red and bulky ninja that he and his brothers encountered at the museum robbery. Helmet, red ninja garb and all. One second later, the bulky ninja then thrusted a strong punch at Mikey's head, and just as the attack hit Mikey, the three ninjas let go of his arms and the attack launched Mikey forward and didn't stop skidding across the ground until his shell hit the ship's mast. Raph had already moved away from there moments earlier to fight against more foes and so, Mikey was almost alone with the other three being occupied in their own battles. The bulky ninja approached Mikey with a katana in his right hand, and with it, he charged at Mikey with the point of the sword being directed straight for Mikey's head. Mikey could only look up to his attacker and flinched as the bulky ninja came at him. From his position, Mikey would not have enough time to save himself, and just then, Leo and Raph had just about finished their fights only look in horror as Mikey wouldn't be able to save himself in time.

The next moment, everyone stood wide-eyed. Except for the bulky ninja who was lying on his back several feet away from Mikey and glaring at the person responsible. Mikey couldn't quite believe his eyes either but was grateful for his rescuer. It was indeed none other than Master Splinter who stood in front of Mikey, jade cane in hand. Splinter had appeared from out of nowhere and batted away the ninja at the last second before Mikey's would-be impalement.

Even though he was just knocked down by Splinter, the bulky ninja quickly got over the surprise and got back up onto his feet, and ordered the three ninjas to attack alongside him. They charged at Splinter and as they were within attacking distance, the turtles realised that the attackers made a huge mistake in attacking their sensei like that. They once did the same thing during a randori session and they came out of it with bruises all other their bodies. The attackers would learn this the hard way. As two of the black wearing ninjas came close enough, Splinter countered with a swift kick in each of their abdomens and then knocked them away with a strong split kick. Then he simply moved back an inch as the third ninja swung his katana at him, resulting in the attacker missing him completely and earning him a painful bash on the head from Splinter's cane. Then it was the turn of the bulky ninja. Instead of attacking Master Splinter, he had to duck and roll away as Splinter swung his cane at the ninja's head. Splinter wasn't done yet as he then threw some hidden shuriken at the bulky ninja, who react by running up the mast and jumped towards Splinter with the intention swinging his katana down onto Splinter's head. Splinter reacted quickly however by thrusting the head of his cane into the attacker's chest and just as the offender falling, Splinter grabbed the ninja's right ankle and did a 360-degree spin and launched the ninja away and the ninja didn't even fly away as he was instantly smashed against the ship's mast. The moment he did however, it knocked his helmet straight off his head and the moment he hit mast, he was knocked straight out, unconscious. This 'fight' only lasted ten seconds with Splinter the victor.

"Sensei!" his three sons said as they all approached him…

 _*WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK*_ "Ow…"

…and then they were covering the top of their heads and the comically large bumps on them. Master Splinter looked at his sons like they just disobeyed him. Oh wait… they did.

"What did I say about going after the Foot?" Master Splinter said in a stern voice that made his three sons cower a bit but Mikey answered anyway… albeit rather sheepishly,

"...uh… not to… go after the Foot in anyway?" he said at which Master Splinter snapped back,

"Was I not clear when I said that?" he then sighed in relief which also helped put his sons at ease, "I'm just glad that the three of you are alright. Now where is Donatello?" Master Splinter asked at which, Leo answered,

"We're quite sure… but we know he's alright." Leo then handed Master Splinter his T-Phone that still had Donnie on speaker,

Donnie had just finished smacked the daylights out of his two assailants by chucking them into a lifeboat and then undoing the safety ropes, causing them to drop into the river. He then brought out his T-Phone and was about to speak with Leo when…

"Donatello." That wasn't Leo's voice but the unmistakeable sound of Master Splinter. And he didn't sound so happy. Realising why made Donnie as white as a sheet.

"Oh! Uh… sensei! Great to hear from you…! Eheh… so… you're here…?"

"Yes, I am. And I am not in mood for games right now. Tell me the current of status of this mission so far." He asked and got Donnie focused again.

"Right, so… if you guys would turn your attention to Pier 16…" they did so and saw a helicopter with the Foot symbol on its tail hovering above the river, "You will see one cool chopper!"

"So… what's with Barnacle Bill?" Mikey said over in the background as the helicopter in question had a steel cable and claw attachment and it was being used to lift what looked like old suit of broken armour covered in seaweed out of the water that the cannon was opening up.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Raph said as the armour was successfully retrieved and the helicopter flew away from the docks.

"We'll regroup at the start of the pier and finish this." Splinter said and with that, all five left from their current positions and raced to the pier. When all five of the mutant ninjas regrouped at the pier, they wasted no time with formality's and raced down the pier and toward the still operating sonic-like cannon. The cannon was at point deactivated by the Foot engineers. With the sonic-like cannon no longer keeping the water separated, the river crashed into each other, creating an enormous splash. The Foot engineers were just about ready to pack up and leave when…

"Now then, boys. There's a matter of some stolen property we need to discuss." Leo said as he approached the engineers who could only gasp in surprise by his appearance. They tried to run around him but…

"Dudes, you really shouldn't be playing with such dangerous toys." Donnie said as he appeared in front of them to block them off. Raph them appeared alongside him, making escape even less likely. Going around the other side of Leo was no option either as Master Splinter and Mikey appeared to block them off. The five ninjas had them completely cornered, but Master Splinter had always taught them that a cornered rat is always dangerous (no pun intended). Case in point, when one of the engineers backed up towards the cannon, he strapped a laser-like weapon to his right hand and fired it at Mikey and Splinter. The two were able to dodge the laser, and as the Foot engineers was shooting at Mikey and Splinter, he didn't notice Leo run at him at his side until it was too late for him. Leo launched a flying kick that landed into the Foot's chest and knocked him to the floor. However, the laser was still active and the Foot accidently blasted the controls for the cannon which also inadvertently activated it. The sword inside sparked to life the laser blast made the entire cannon unstable and it rocked the entire pier. The turtles struggled to find their footing as the pier shook but Master Splinter was undeterred. The controls began to emit smoke like it was overheating which was confirmed when the Foot engineer said it was overloading and that he couldn't control it. But at that moment, the Foot helicopter that flew away from the docks earlier had flown back to help the Foot engineers escape what was now a chaotic scene. The helicopter hovered above everyone and the Foot engineers took the opportunity to jump up and hang onto the railings as the helicopter flew off and away from the pier a second time.

"Their getting away!" Raph shouted but not only was the helicopter too far away now, they also had bigger problems. The unstable and active cannon began to rotate of its own accord, and when it stopped, the cannon was now pointed directly at the docks themselves.

"Raph, I think we have bigger problems!" Donnie made a great understatement as the active cannon began to rip the docks apart. The wooden walkways crumbled and a huge crack was making its way down to the docks warehouses and toward the city.

"Talk about bad vibes!" Mikey punned but now really wasn't the time for that.

"Not funny, Mike!"

"Don, can you shut it down!" Leo asked Donnie rather desperately. And why not. That unstable cannon was ripping apart the docks piece by piece.

"Well… I might be able to disconnect the sword from the accelerator… but crossing the power terminator could result in a feedback loop that might- but Leo interrupted him,

"Donnie, whatever! Meantime let's point this thing away from civilisation." Leo ordered and everyone except Donnie (who was working to try disable the cannon), started to push against the cannon with all their might on one side of it but…

"THIS IS THE POLICE! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" a police helicopter suddenly flew into view. The five mutants were running out of time.

"Hurry up, Donnie! Before we end up on America's most wanted mutants!" Raph declared,

"I'm almost there…" Donnie attempted to short circuit the cannon by connecting two different wires together. He thought doing so would disable the cannon but all it did was make the cannon even more unstable as it began spinning around uncontrollably. The police helicopter was getting closer and closer and now Donnie had absolutely no way of safely disabling the cannon.

"We gotta steady this thing!" Leo ordered and it was as he said this that he saw a tyre iron discarded on the floor. He picked it up and then approached the spinning cannon. After ducking put of the way a couple of times, he made his way to the middle of the cannon and then without thinking very much, he thrusted the tyre iron in the middle what appeared to be the part that rotated the cannon. It sparked as Leo dashed away. Great, now that the cannon stopped and pointed towards the river again, Donnie had enough room to try a remove the sword, but as he tried to grab it by the hilt, Donnie was literally shocked by sword. He let out a yelp in pain. Leo then spotted another discarded item, it was the very same metal glove with the Foot symbol on it that the bulky ninja used to steal the sword in the first place. He picked it and then passed it to Donnie.

"Try this!" he ordered as Donnie caught the glove. He placed it on his left hand and once again grabbed the sword by the hilt, this time without it electrocuting him, and he safely retrieved the sword. Although, 'safely' was not the right word for it, for as soon as Donnie removed the sword, the cannon made a loud humming noise and given how unstable it already was, Donnie assumed it was going to self-destruct.

"Let's get of here!" Donnie ordered and not wanting to get blown up, everyone made a run for it. However, the pier was too damaged for them to even think about attempting to run on it and the police helicopter would surely see them as it was now closing in on them. Only thing left now was too jump into the river. Which they did and as soon as they did, the five ninjas swam as fast as they could.

They re-emerged at the next stable pier and away from the police helicopter, and just in time too as the pier that held up the cannon could no longer support its weight and crumbled into the river and taking the cannon with it. Donnie assumed correctly as the cannon exploded underwater, thankfully minimising the damage that it mostly would have done if it hadn't sunk into the river.

"Woah, dudes… that was way too close!" Mikey said and with the night's events finally over, the five mutant ninjas swiftly left the docks and into the shadows where no-one will see them. Not even the police who arrived at the last second.

May 8th… 12:31am… The Lair…

With the chaos of the night now behind them, the five occupants of the Lair relaxed a little. There, in the middle of the Lair stood Master Splinter, holding the sword with the Foot's metal glove. Both were the spoils of their success. Splinter kneeled in front of his bedroom and facing his sons who were also kneeling and facing him.

"The design is unmistakeably eleventh century Japanese, but the technology of this sword is definitely not of that era. Clearly there is more to this sword than meets the eye." Master Splinter said as he analysed the sword and then walked to a weapons rack for the lone sword, "Best it remains out of the wrong hands." He placed the sword on the lone rack, intent on making sure it doesn't leave.

12:33am… Foot HQ…

The Shredder was angry. He had just retrieved something that would've given him a huge advantage against his enemies, only to have it stolen from him. He stood in the middle of the shrine and facing the Foot engineers who failed him.

"For a long time, longer than you can possibly imagine, my enemies have managed to elude me, even though it cost them Japan." He then turned to the latest piece of junk that now stood inside a display case to his left, "Here at last, is proof of their presence in this city." And then he turned to the sword display case that would held the Sword of Tengu, "And all it cost ME was The Sword of Tengu!" in a momentary display of anger, he smashed the display case. And then the excuses came,

"Master, please… there were… extenuating circumstances… these five strange creatures… they came from nowhere!" one of the Foot engineers pleaded and even though the Shredder was not impressed, he seemed to know what the engineer was implying. He sat at the table near the back and picked up a photo shot of the five mutants in question that was from the invasion of Dr Stockman's lab.

"Were these the creatures you saw?" he showed them the heat signature photo of the five mutants to the engineers and through there tech goggles, they confirmed that it was the same five mutants from the lab invasion.

"That will be all." The Shredder said calmly which unnerved the engineers but they nonetheless bowed to the Shredder and were about to exit the shrine, when all of the sudden, at the entrance to the shrine, Hun was at the doors and grabbed the two engineers by the throats. The two engineers struggled and when the doors closed behind Hun and sealing off the image from the Shredders view the struggling abruptly stopped.

"Bradford, did you at least learn anything more about these freaks?" The Shredder ordered and on que, the bulky ninja that is Chris Bradford emerged from the shadows of the shrine.

"Yes, Master. The humanoid rat that wore robes had the symbol of your enemies on it." He answered. Although it looked as though he was being battered by Splinter during their fight, he was actually observing his opponent.

"Hmm… further proof of their presence in this city. But why was it not human?" The Shredder pondered this for only a few seconds before decided not to, "Bah! It didn't matter. These freakish thorns in my side must be removed…" The Shredder placed the photo on the table and then equipped his bladed gauntlet that also on the table and stabbed the photo, "…permenantly."

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hope you like Bradford's debut! I decided to go against the 2012 view of him doubling as a celebrity and henchmen and just abandon the celebrity part. Since I'll be honest, I don't we've ever learn how he met The Shredder in the 2012 cartoon. I might do that later on in my works, but that will be much later. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter and hope you stick around for the next update and chapter!**


	12. Improve and how not to improve

**me: hello readers! This chapter mostly revolves around the episode 'Metalhead' with a lot of differences. Enjoy!**

* * *

May 15th… 8:12pm… New York City Rooftops…

Master Splinter had given his sons a lecture about some of the reckless moves they made at the docks from a week ago, from Donnie's first (unsafe) test run of his glider, Mikey's roleplaying as a pirate that nearly got him killed, and Raph climbing up an easily destroyable net with killer enemies at the top. Raph was understandably annoyed that Leo didn't receive any kind of lecture other than to 'you must all do better' from Splinter, although that was directed at all four of them. He also went into a lecture about how fighters can create their own luck, which he pointed out on how the sonic-like cannon sunk into the river when it did and how it failed to destroy all of the docks.

So, imagine their luck now as they surveyed the rooftops and the ground below, only to find a duo of Kraang enter what seemed to be a normal looking building. Lucky, they spotted the Kraang when they did, it had been a while since they last saw them.

"What do you think they're up to?" Raph asked to which Mikey chimed in,

"Ooh! Perhaps they're having a birthday party!" this earned him a slap on the back of his head courtesy of Raph,

"I wasn't asking for YOUR opinion, Mikey!" but Mikey wasn't going to back down yet,

"Dude, don't they have like, a thousand or so alien brains? You'd think at least one of them would have one!" Raph was about to retort, but…

"Guys! How about we just infiltrate that building and find out for ourselves!" Leo barked at them which was also sounding like an order and with that Leo and Donnie leapt of the building they were standing on to go infiltrate the one that the Kraang had just entered. Before they followed, Mikey tried to poke at Raph's head, only for his poking finger to get swatted away and then get a poke to his forehead from Raph, who then walked away to join the other two. Mikey was annoyed but soon followed.

8:14pm… Inside the building…

Even something as quiet as an infiltration can very easily end up turning into a very loud confrontation. Such as the case for the turtles and the Kraang. When the turtles quietly infiltrated the building through an open window, they came across a normal warehouse- like interior; lots of wooden crates, tools… OH! And of course, Kraang Droids with Kraang inside of them. From what the turtles could see, the Kraang were just about ready to test fire a really large version of a Kraang Blaster. Though as the Kraang put it…

"Kraang, is the device that is known as the Kraang Energy Cannon device ready for testing as scheduled?"

"The device that is known as the Kraang Energy Cannon needs that which is known 'final adjustments."

Raph and Mikey didn't get much of that (who could blame them), but from what Leo and Donnie understood, they had stumbled across the Kraang about to test drive a new weapon. This had to be stopped, as there was no telling how destructive that weapon could be.

What followed next wasn't very stealthy- Mikey shouting 'BOOYAKASHA' to announce their arrival didn't help in the slightest. If someone saw the building from the outside (no-one did), they would've seen pink lights flash from the windows along with the sound of laser fire. On the inside, the Kraang were having trouble of shooting swift moving targets. The four ninjas were really starting to get used to being under heavy laser fire, as they ran in circles to avoid the laser fire.

"Keep moving. Don't let them surround you. Failure is not an option." Leo ordered and not wanting that to happen anyway, his three brothers agreed and kept running. Though Donnie felt he had to point something out, even though he too was under heavy fire,

"Technically, failure is always an option…" but Raph ran up beside him and interrupted him,

"You know what else is an option? Slapping you!" that would have to wait however, as they were then running straight towards three Kraang and were firing at them the moment they were seen. Raph and Donnie dodged to the opposite sides of each other, and as Donnie landed and rolled next to some wooden crates, he spotted some Kraang that Mikey hadn't noticed,

"Mikey! On the right!" he shouted and from where and how Mikey was running he just had to question,

"Your right or my right?" it was Mikey's right and just as Mikey caught on, he had to quickly jump and dodge out of the way and as one of the aliens was distracted trying to shoot a very agile Mikey, Donnie took the opportunity to leap at the distracted Kraang and swung his staff at the droid's head with all his might. He swung with the force of a rampaging gorilla, and the result? The droid barely flinched as the staff only moved the head slightly.

"Are you kidding me? I hate this thing!" Donnie announced as he referred to his staff and obviously forgetting that all three of his brothers had better arm strength than him. Otherwise the droid's head would have been ripped from its shoulders with that attack. The Kraang turned to face Donnie and just when Donnie was about to get a face full of laser blast, Raph's sai flew out of nowhere and impaled itself through the droid's head. The droid short circuited as it fell onto the ground and Raph jumped onto the droid and retrieved his weapon. He turned to Donnie,

"Nice work. When we're done here, there's a marching band that needs a majorette!" Raph said as he ran off to fight the remaining Kraang. Donnie was about to make a retort but was suddenly under laser fire again and quickly sprinted off to avoid it.

Leo himself was under laser fire from a single Kraang droid, he raced towards it, with his twin katana ready to slice and dice. The moment he was within slicing distance, Leo was suddenly behind the droid, and the droid was in pieces. The alien squealed as it crawled away.

Raph found himself running towards a wall as for some reason (one he didn't question) the Kraang couldn't hit him even though they had a clear shot at him. As soon as he was in front of the wall, he ran up the wall and then jumped off it, he landed on the offending alien's shoulders and stabbed the droid through the neck with his twin sai. The droid short circuited and fell to the ground with Raph landing on his feet to continue the fight.

"Kraang, the present is being a positive time to be the testing of the energy cannon." One Kraang said to another as it was clear that they weren't going to win this fight with just their current numbers and weapons. The four turtles came together as they were suddenly no longer under fire from the blasters but still saw that the energy cannon that the aliens were initially going to test was now being rolled to and pointed towards them.

"Everyone, stand your ground!" Leo ordered but then the energy cannon powered up and Leo corrected his previous order,

"On second thought, RUN!" the energy cannon fired at this point and the turtles scattered and avoided the blast as it went straight past them and created a large hole in the wall behind them. Thinking about not giving the cannon a single place to fire upon, Leo, Mikey and Raph jumped onto some crates while Donnie stayed on ground level. The energy cannon fired at Raph who barely dodges away it time as the cannon destroyed the crate he was on. Mikey was next as had to jump over the laser blast as it harmlessly left another hole in the wall. Donnie was the next target, but since he was thinking about how the Kraang Droids worked, he barely dodged in time and even though the energy blast left a large hole in the wall behind him, it also destroyed one end of his staff.

"Oh, come on!" Mikey withheld a snicker as he pointed out,

"Dude, your weapon just exploded!" Donnie then took cover from behind a wooden crate as the energy cannon fired again at him.

"How am I supposed to fight advanced alien technology with a stupid stick?" _Staff!_ It was a staff and with the correct training and dedication, even his broken staff could be deadly against these aliens. But he didn't know that. Meanwhile his brothers were having no trouble destroying three more droids with their own weapons. Even Mikey was having no trouble destroying a droid with his not-so-sharp nunchucks. The four brothers were at this point once again together as the Kraang had them cornered with their remaining numbers and the energy cannon as they prepared to fire it.

"Kraang, destroy those who call themselves 'the turtles' who are mutants when that which is the signal that is the signal that is given by me." One Kraang said to another and Leo took the time it was talking and came up with a solution to their predicament. He threw one of his hidden shuriken at a metal beam which ricocheted off the beam and then ricocheted off the forklift's lifter and then embedded itself into its controls. This activated the forklift and it moved of its own accord as it crunched into the Kraang and their energy cannon and ploughed on until had them crushed against a wall. The cannon sparked out and into uselessness as the aliens squealed and crawled out of the now useless droids. Leo and Raph smirked at this sight.

The three of the four brothers climbed out of a window, happy that they accomplished making the Kraang look bad. When they were standing in the middle of the alley behind the building, Raph turned towards Leo,

"Dumb luck." Raph said as he smirked towards Leo and he just grinned as he replied,

"Wasn't luck, my friend. And dumb had nothing to with it." Leo said and it was then that Donnie was climbing out through the same window though for some reason, he was struggling with trying to bring something out with him,

"Hey, give me a hand with this." But since none of the other three could see what he was trying to pull out of the window with him,

"A hand with what?" Leo had to question.

8:16pm… the rooftops…

Most of the time, when someone played an action and adventure RPG, they would come across some fallen loot that they could choose to keep. Gold, useful items etc. However, unlike Donnie, Raph didn't see any value in a broken droid as Donnie had him carry the droid on his shell as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop to head back home with their spoils of victory.

"I'm carrying this thing home for you because, why?" Raph said he stopped on one rooftop and prompting his three brothers to stop as well.

"Don't you wanna know how these things work?" Donnie answered with a question,

"I know how they work; ya hit 'em until the brainy toy surprise pops out!" Raph said as though it were part of a game. Donnie didn't find this amusing,

"That's your problem, Raph. You never think these things through." Donnie said but Raph still didn't see it his way,

"What is there to think about? You hit 'em and you break 'em!" Donnie was about to make a retort but Leo beat him to it,

"Come on, Raph. You know how he gets when technology is on his mind." He then turned to face Donnie, "You're going to want to learn what makes these things tick, don't you?" Leo asked Donnie.

"Exactly, and nothing is going to stop me from doing so."

May 16th… 10:04am… The Lair…

As soon as the four turtles reached home, Donnie had Raph place the broken droid on his work bench. He got a little annoyed when Raph slammed it on the table. The table didn't break but Donnie made no move to yell at Raph for it. He wanted to dive in and learn about the droid by carefully taking it apart, but Master Splinter intervened and said something about 'overworking your mind is a dangerous skill'. He just barely managed to convince Donnie to leave it until the morning.

And so, after breakfast, and a visit from April, Donnie began to tinker with the droid at his work bench.

"Wow, this stuff is lightyears ahead of anything that I've seen." Donnie then pulls out something that resembled a piece of metal with hexagons attached to each other, "Do you know what this is?" Donnie asked April, who was walking across the Lair to sit at the makeshift living room, she hardly acknowledges what it was that Donnie was showing her, but he was so excited that he didn't even notice,

"No."

"Neither do I! But I can't wait to find out!" Donnie said as he got all giddy. He was always like this whenever there was something about science or technology he didn't know about. It would always make him as excited as a school boy when he would immerse himself into learning about it. It was at this moment that Splinter emerged from his room with a new six-foot staff to replace Donnie's destroyed one. When he passed Raph and Mikey, the two placed a bet on how long it would take for this new staff to get destroyed. Of course, they didn't have money to place their bets so instead, they just decided to keep score. When Donnie saw Master Splinter approach him with the staff in hand, his face fell a little,

"With all due respect, Sensei, I can't keep fighting advanced alien technology with a six-foot staff. I was hoping to upgrade my weapon." Donnie said as a request and Master Splinter looked at the staff, contemplating on how upgrading the staff would work,

"Hmm… a seven-foot staff. Interesting." But Donnie corrected him,

"No, I meant using modern technology."

"Ah, a Solar-Powered staff." Spinter said with sarcasm (pretty rare for him), but he knew what his son was implying,

"I'm serious, Sensei."

"I know. And yes, you may upgrade your weapon." Master Splinter said but Donnie was half expecting him to say no and then a lecture on mastering your weapon or something

"That's totally unfair! You can't just say- "realisation hits him, "-wait. Did you just say 'yes'?" Donnie asked,

"Ninjas have improved their arsenal for centuries. We are masters of adaptation." Master Splinter explained which made Donnie very excited about what weapons were running through his brain now.

"That is GREAT! 'Cause with this technology, I will be invincible! What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shuriken? Plasma swords? Hoho! I just gave myself goose-bumps!" Donnie said with a lot of excitement and at the mention of goose-bumps, he dashed towards April and held up his arm for her to check/ flirt (badly), "You wanna feel? Eh?" but even though April thought it was adorable watching Donnie geeking out, she decided to not give him an ego to inflate. Besides, she was busy as she brought her own laptop to work on.

"Pass."

Master Splinter felt the need to give Donnie a bit of advice, and even though he knew at this point it may not be taken seriously with the mindset that Donnie was currently under, he felt it didn't at least hurt to try,

"But remember, technology is a means, not an end. It is you who must prevail in battle, not your weapon." Master Splinter said as Donnie grabbed the broken Kraang droid and his toolkit and proceeded to take apart the droid (carefully). "Combat is not a videogame." Splinter then realised he just made the wrong choice of words.

"That's it! I'll turn combat into a videogame! Thanks, Sensei!"

7:49pm…

"IT'S ALIIIVE!" Donnie suddenly shouted out his Dr Frankenstein expression which caught everyone's attention (minus Splinter). As Donnie's brothers and April walked over to his workbench, a question needed to be voiced,

"What's alive?" Leo asked and he got his answer when Donnie revealed his creation. A short, stocky, robotic turtle. "What is this?" he asked again to which Donnie all but happily answered,

"Brothers, friends… Raphael." Raph scowled at this, "This is the future of Ninjutsu." Donnie said as he announced his creationbut Raph didn't look very impressed,

"I didn't think that the future of ninjutsu would be so short." He said but Mikey thought otherwise,

"Aw, he's so cute!" Mikey said as he approached the robot turtle, and then Donnie pressed a few buttons on a remote control he was holding and then all of the sudden, the robotic turtle had lasers, wings, saws, stunners, missile launcher and a baseball bat (for some reason) appearing on every part of its body. It would appear that Donnie was preparing for a war and not stealth. Mikey was so surprised that he stumbled back onto his shell.

"Still think he's cute?" Donnie said with pride and continued, "I reverse engineered him from the Kraang Droid." Donnie said,

"Ok… why?" Leo asked,

"So, the drone can handle all of the dangerous stuff, while we stay out of harm's way." Donnie explained but Raph pointed something out in his own words,

"Oh, I get it… this is for wimps too afraid to fight!" Raph said as he smirked but Donnie wasn't having any of it,

"No, it's for wimps too smart to fight." Realisation hits him, "-I mean- "but then April approached him,

"Donnie… you know Master Splinter said, 'combat is not a videogame'? Well I'm pretty sure he also meant, 'don't go overboard'." April said but Donnie protested,

"Sensei also said that 'ninjas have their arsenal for centuries, we are masters of adaptation'." April sweat-dropped at this and before she could say anything, Master Splinter suddenly appeared behind them. April was surprised while the other four were just used to this,

"April is right, Donatello. Adapting can give you an advantage. But over adapting can be just as bad as not adapting at all. It will place you in a disadvantage you didn't know you had." Splinter said, "Whilst I agree that it is a marvel of engineering, I feel as though you would be doing more harm than good, despite your good intention." It was then that the Lair's elevator opened up and from it, Casey emerged into the Lair.

"Hey, dudes!"

"Casey? What are you doing here?" Donnie asked and Casey gave a very simple answer,

"Raph invited me over." He said but it only served to confuse Donnie,

"Since when?" he turned to Raph,

"Well…"

 **Backtrack a few hours…**

5:25pm…

Raph knelt before Master Splinter outside his bedroom with his Sensei kneeling in front the door. He was waiting for an answer. He had just asked Splinter about inviting Casey over for the first time. He had been living above at the warehouse for a while now, but even though he knew where the turtles lived, he never once asked if he could come over for a visit. Raph came to the conclusion that someone like Casey wouldn't hesitate to enter their home, but then he realised it was because of Splinter. Sure, Casey knew about their Sensei and father figure but he didn't know what kind of father figure he was. And he was a ninja master; one wrong move and Casey would've had reason to fear for his life.

"I see. Very well then." Master Splinter said after hearing out Raph. Raph smiled once permission was granted.

"Thank you, Sensei!" and with that, he stood and walked to each of his brothers and April to let them all know who was coming over and each had their own responses:

"Alright, Good for you both." Raph groaned at Leo's lack of enthusiasm,

"Cool, dude!" Mikey said as he bounced excitedly on the couch. Raph groaned at his overenthusiasm,

"That's great, Raph. I thought it was strange that Casey wasn't over down here." April said with a smile and Raph didn't groan but agreed with her,

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, whatever." Donnie was so immersed in his project that he didn't even acknowledge what Raph had intended. Raph raised the skin on top of his eye (eyebrow raise but none of the turtles had eyebrows) but if Donnie was going to ignore him, then he will not be blamed for his own actions. But he didn't take any and so, he carried on to the elevator to tell Casey the news.

 **Back to now…**

7:50pm…

"… so, you only have yourself to blame for not paying any attention." Raph said as he finished his explanation but Donnie was feeling so proud of his finished project that he didn't feel the need to feel annoyed at Raph. During Raph's explanation, Casey noticed the robotic turtle standing next to Donnie and waited for Raph to finish.

"So… what's this thing?" Casey asked as he pointed to the robot, and although he was proud to introduce him again, he struggled to come up with a name. Mikey however, did as he finished tapping on the robot's head,

"Ooh! Let's call it Metalhead! Why you ask? Because it's made of metal and it's got a- "Mikey was interrupted,

"We get it…" Leo said nonchalantly.

"This is ridiculous. I don't need a toaster to fight my battles." Raph said toaster. _Toaster._ Now it's on.

"Alright then. If you think you can _my_ awesome robot, then attack Metalhead. Give it all you got, Raph." Donnie challenged.

"With pleasure." Raph stepped forward whilst everyone else stepped way back. Whether it was because bits of robot were going to go flying in every direction or Raph would go flying everywhere, they didn't want to get hit by either. Donnie pressed a button on his remote control that activated Metalhead's combat mode. Raph retrieved his twin sai from his belt and readied himself to destroy Metalhead.

Raph made the first move, he leapt high into the air and did a series of front flips before pointing his entire body down with his twin sai leading the drop as he aimed directly for Metalhead. Donnie smirked at this, and then moved the joysticks on his remote control, and the response was Metalhead stepping back slightly and grabbed the twin sai just as they were about to coonect. Raph was surprised but before he could do anything else, Donnie had Metalhead slam Raph into the ground a total of four times (he could take the damage) before throwing him across the Lair. Everyone was right to step back in case either debris or Raph went flying.

 _*SPLASH*_

At least Raph didn't hit the hard ground, at least the pool in the middle of the Lair softened the blow. Sort of. Raph took no time to emerge from the pool, and looked ready to blow a fuse.

"I kicked your shell! And I didn't even need to use any weapons! Or the laser cannon." Donnie said with the most pride he has ever had. "Face it, guys. With this thing, I'm invincible." Okay, now he was getting overconfident and borderline cocky. By then Raph had gotten himself out of the water and was now in front of Donnie,

"Oh yeah?" he angled his sai on Donnie's remote and flicked it out of his hand.

"You know what I mean." Donnie defended as the remote skidded across the ground. Donnie chased after it and caught it just as Splinter stopped it with his foot. As Donnie looked up at his Sensei, April could've sworn that he was just standing next to her a second ago.

"Sensei! I was wondering if I could take Metalhead out for a test drive?" Donnie asked and was half expecting a 'no' and a reason/lecture for as to why.

"You may."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just say- "realisation hits him, "-wait, what?"

"You have created this new weapon. We must see how well it performs." Master Splinter said. Donnie was stunned but grateful.

"Really? Well, brilliant! Thanks, Sensei!" Donnie said as he hung his head in a bow.

"But it is a test only. Do NOT take it into combat." Splinter knew it was a futile request but he tried anyway.

"No problem, Sensei." Donnie heeded the request but when Splinter left for his bedroom and out of earshot, April spoke up,

"You're going to take it into combat the first chance you get, aren't you?" April asked,

"Totally!" Donnie said and then giggled. And then Raph remembered that Casey was here,

"So, Casey, any news lately?" Raph asked,

"Besides the usual Purple Dragons, I think I may have stumbled upon a hidden Kraang base today." Casey said which got everyone's attention,

"Really? How?" April asked,

"Well, earlier today, there was a small gas explosion inside a building in town. I check through the window to see if anyone got hurt, but instead of seeing a human, I see a Kraang droid instead!" Casey explained and then Leo went into leader mode,

"Let's check out that building. And Donnie, leave Metalhead here." Leo said and Donnie immediately protested,

"What? No way! Metalhead can totally make mincemeat out of the Kraang!" Donnie argued but Leo was having none of it,

"Donnie, I know how proud you are of this thing, but Sensei said, 'test only'. I'm pretty sure a run in with the Kraang is not going to be a 'test'." Leo said,

"Come on, Leo. I'm literally dying to test this thing! I promise I won't let it into a fight." Donnie argued again and at this rate, Leo was going to get stuck into a pointless argument with Donnie whilst the Kraang would be going who knows what.

"Uh… fine…" Leo said with a defeated sigh, and with that, the three mutant ninjas plus Casey and Metalhead departed the Lair. All the while, Donnie was grinning ear to ear about two things; one, he was going to pulverise the Kraang with Metalhead and show his brothers and Sensei how much of a genius he truly was. And two, (and most importantly) he was going to be (mostly) alone in the Lair with April, his biggest crush.

8:01pm… New York City Rooftops…

The night sky was out, the moon was shining though the city lights prevented the sight of the stars. It was indeed the perfect conditions for the three stealthy ninja turtles to gracefully leap from building to building. Casey wasn't too far behind, just a couple of inches in fact and he was definitely getting better at rooftop running even with all the gear he was carrying. Casey pointed out that they were halfway to where the hidden Kraang base would be, and at the halfway mark, they stopped for a very good reason. Though the city was dark and perfect for ninjas to get around unnoticed, if everyone was honest, it wouldn't take a ninja master to guess that a heavy, clunky and loud robot was lagging behind. Granted, Metalhead could run and jump across rooftops with no difficulty, it left cracks wherever it landed and its running was as loud as an elephant's stomping. Leo felt the need to face-palm as Metalhead re-joined the group.

"Should we double back? I think there's a car alarm you haven't set off!" Leo said and even though it was sarcastic, the implication that it was loud was clearly there. Raph felt the need to crouch next to Metalhead and grinned as he teased,

"I kind of like it. It goes nice with the sirens and cries for help!" but Donnie ignored the teasing. He could still see and hear everything thanks to a live feed he had installed into Metalhead and he could see and hear everything through his laptop.

"Oh, come on, you guys are just jealous, 'cause you're out there in the cold, and I'm in here in the nice warm Lair eating the last slice of Mikey's pizza." And there next to his laptop was a pizza box with one slice left.

"HEY! I had three slices left!" Mikey said extremely annoyed. He wanted Donnie to pay for that but since he wasn't here, he could just leave a huge dent in Metalhead.

 _*CLANG* OW!_

Metalhead was very tough, punching it like Mikey just did wasn't going to do anything to it.

"Donnie, it's not really cold out here, man." Casey said as if to try and deflate some of Donnie's now inflated ego. Didn't work.

8:04pm… outside the hidden Kraang base…

"Here we are, dudes." Casey said as they stood on a building opposite to the one he described.

"Okay, here's what we do; quietly infiltrate the building, find out what the Kraang are up to, then dismantle the plan and then trash the place." Leo ordered and the others agreed.

"Yeah! The Kraang don't stand a chance!" But Leo placed a stop motion in front of Metalhead's face so Donnie could see it too, "What?" Donnie asked,

"Because Metalhead is too heavy and too clumsy, it'll get in our way." Leo reasoned to which Donnie protested again,

"Clumsy?!" he said as he raised Metalhead's arms and unfortunately for Casey who was standing right next to it, his private parts were right where Metalhead's hand practically slammed into. All three turtles winced at the sight. Poor Casey was now scrunched on floor and holding his privates in agonizing pain. As Donnie turned Metalhead's head and saw what he did, all he did was nonchalantly say,

"I did that on purpose to emphasis my point."

"You're not coming Donnie." Leo ordered as the now team of three proceeded to infiltrate the Kraang building across. Donnie listened as his pride in Metalhead took a light blow, but nothing he couldn't bounce back from, but he still stayed put. Casey however was out of commission quite possibly for the entire mission now.

Meanwhile, back at the Lair…

"Whoops. Eheh…"

"That's all you can say, Donnie? Oops?" April asked with slight annoyance,

"Well… can't account for EVERY possibility. Not even Casey's dilemma." Donnie defended,

"Dilemma? Donnie, his 'dilemma' is going to be yours once they get back." April argued back but Donnie was still too prideful,

"Oh, come on, it was just one little thing!"

"…Donnie. Potentially dangerous mission, you put Casey out of commission and your brothers are now a three-man team. Face it, Donnie, you've made a big mistake." April's words had a good amount of bite, and though Donnie was silent, he wasn't going to admit that building Metalhead was a mistake. It wasn't a mistake!

Back on the roof…

"YOU'RE NOT KIDDING!" Casey shouted at Donnie, since he heard the conversation.

"Casey, are you okay?" April asked over the live feed,

"I'm fine, Red. Except that there's a humungous ache on my crotch, my legs are like jelly and I seriously want to stuff Donnie into a punching bag!" that about sums up Casey's feeling towards Donnie at the moment.

"Yeah, he's fine." Donnie said nonchalantly.

8:07pm… Inside the Kraang base…

The three turtles (no thanks to Donnie) crouched on one of the buildings support beams above and in the darkness. From above they could hear the Kraang in a conversation,

"Kraang, is that which is the unstable mutagen ready for the experiment that is the experiment of Kraang?"

"Yes. That which is the unstable mutagen is ready for the experiment that is the experiment of Kraang."

"Kraang, proceed with that which is known as the unstable mutagen to that which is known as the human water supply."

The Kraang then started approaching canisters of mutagen on top of some crates. Most likely also filled with canisters of mutagen.

"Wait, do the Kraang intend to poison the city's water supply with mutagen?" Leo quietly asked from above,

"If they do, the whole city will become a disaster area." Raph concluded,

"There'll be mutants everywhere." Leo said,

"Wow, think of all the friends we could make!" Mikey said.

"-_-"

"-_-"

"Excuse me for being the 'glass half full' kind of guy."

"Anyway… ready to bash some bots?" good one Raph,

"Destroy some droids?" good follow up Leo,

"Clean some closets?" Mikey said.

"-_-"

"-_-"

"…er… um… I mean… crush some Kraang?"

"Let's move…" Leo ordered.

Leo gave the order. And Leo and Raph jumped from the building's support and landed behind a Kraang and before it could react to anything, the two ninjas stabbed the droid in the back with their own weapons. When the now disabled droid hit the ground, Raph spiked the head with his sai and held it on the tip like trophy. Just then, two more Kraang droids appeared before them and before they could power up their blasters, Mikey suddenly dropped down onto them with all mighty "BOOYAKASHA!". How not another Kraang didn't notice that or the loud sounds of Mikey battering the two droids into submission is up for debate later. Mikey's continuous battering of the Kraang was interrupted by Raph dragging him away by the shell like a child away from smashing his/her toys. Unknown to the three that one of the Kraang droids wasn't completely battered by Mikey and was still functioning.

The three turtles stealthily made their way towards a large group of Kraang, Mikey took refuge behind a barrel while his brothers hid behind a crate. Their hiding however was about to become fruitless as the not-so-battered Kraang droid crawled to the turtles and the rest of its group. The turtles turned towards it and the droid pointed to them and their hiding spaces and thus alerted the aliens to their presence.

On the other rooftop…

The sight of pink flashing at the building's window along with the sound of laser fire from inside had indicated that the team of three inside had been caught.

"Why is it with our stealth missions, we always get blasted at anyway?" Donnie asked, mostly to himself. He wasn't wrong, since so far, they haven't had a stealth mission that didn't go sideways. This was starting to become a pattern.

"At least they get some action. In fact, I'm all ready to brawl!" Casey announced and it was true, he was back on his feet (properly). Then all of the sudden, an energy blast erupted from the building and Donnie/Metalhead and Casey were only just barely able to dodge in time.

"AAAGGHH! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! RUN!" Mikey shouted out of the top of his lungs.

Donnie/Metalhead and Casey towards each other and said the same thing, "Let's go!"

Inside the building…

The three ninja turtles were having trouble trying to get close to the Kraang. They were far too many and all of them were firing towards the turtles. They ducked and dodged but as they did so, they were backing up to a cover spot behind some crates.

"Leo! We're running out of- "they ducked behind some crates for cover but they were also literally against a wall, "-room…" Raph said and Leo pointed out the obvious,

"We're trapped!"

"Or maybe, they're the ones who are trapped? Hm?" Mikey said as he peeked over the crate he was hiding behind only to duck back down as a laser shot just narrowly missed his head, "No! It's us!"

The turtles were now at a real risk of getting blasted to death when from out of nowhere, Donnie/Metalhead came crashing down onto two of the Kraang, startling all present. Though the turtles looked a little confused by the landing as Metalhead's arm were awkwardly position above his head,

"What are you doing? What is wrong with your arms?" Leo asked,

"My… hands aren't on my hips?" Donnie questioned,

"No!" Leo answered for him and Raph face-palmed at the stupidity.

"Sorry! Forgot to press B!" Donnie then did that and Metalhead's arms rotated around and now his hands were on his hips. Now if he did that for the entrance he made, it would've been epic. Now it just looked daft.

The Kraang then turned their blasters at Metalhead and all fired upon him. However, Donnie just had Metalhead stand there and take it which resulted in the laser fire having no effect on Metalhead at all. After a few seconds of this, the Kraang stopped firing at Metalhead at looked at their blasters and wondering why that didn't work.

"Now it's my turn! Eat hot laser!" Donnie shouted through the speaker inside and then Metalhead pointed its rapid-fire blaster from his left hand at the Kraang and unlike the aliens, Donnie seemed to be having way too much blasting them. He then had metalhead shoot a rocket fist, it honed it in on whatever Kraang was standing, then when was placed back on its arm, he looked towards Raph who was still taking cover behind one of the crates,

"Hey Raph, how does it feel to be shown up by a _toaster?"_ Donnie asked in a mocking tone. Raph scowled while Leo repressed a giggle. Mikey saw behind Donnie and tried to warn him,

"Burn." Mikey said but Donnie misinterpreted it,

"Yeah, I thought was good one!"

"NO! Burn!" Mikey shouted as he pointed behind Metalhead. And behind him, two kraang were approaching him unarmed. They thought if blasting the robot wouldn't work, then they would try close combat. Donnie caught on to what Mikey was implying,

"Oh! Right." Donnie turned the Kraang behind him and then blasted the offenders with a flamethrower he had in Metalhead's right hand and along with the two offenders, the other aliens that were behind them also got blasted by the flamethrower. As one of the droids lay useless on the ground and powered down it uttered,

"That thing which does violence at Kraang, used to do violence FOR Kraang." And then it powered down into a broken heap before the alien inside popped out and scurried away.

Donnie however was having so much fun blasted the aliens with his rapid-fire laser that he inadvertently sent some laser fire at his brothers who just managed to duck behind the crates to avoid it.

"Dude!"

"Donnie watch the friendly fire!" Leo barked out

"Oops! Sorry guys!" Donnie said but he was having too much fun destroying the Kraang that not only did he not mean it, but as soon as he said that he went straight back to demolishing the Kraang.

"GOONGALA!" there was a sudden bellow from a certain vigilante from inside the building that indicated that Casey had arrived to cause even more mayhem. He couldn't enter through the glass roof like Metalhead could. The height was too great for him, so he had to scale down the building he was on and enter the Kraang infested building from a window on ground level. But now that he was here, he charged at the remaining Kraang (still quite a lot) with his hockey stick and bat in each hand. He had just battered one of the Kraang when Donnie accidently shot some bottles explosive liquid. The blast sent a shockwave throughout the building, knocking back the turtles as their covers were destroyed and Casey was sent flying in the opposite direction. But Metalhead took the full force of the blast and smashed against a support beam. The hit didn't damage the robot much but it did knock its control aerial off, meaning that no matter what Donnie did at the controls in the Lair, nothing would reach Metalhead now.

Back at the Lair…

Donnie's face grew very concerned as the screen on his laptop read 'LOST SIGNAL'.

"No! I lost the signal!" Donnie said with worry and April who stood next to him also grew concerned. It was then that the screen showed a Kraang crawling up Metalhead. "What's that Kraang doing?"

Inside the building…

The Kraang crawled up Metalhead and then sat on its head and wrapped its tentacles around its chin to stop itself from falling off. It got a nasty electrical shock as a result but then tried again and this time, metalhead became active under the control of the Kraang. Donnie knew what this meant; big trouble.

"Uh-oh. Guys, if you can hear me, you might wanna run!" Luckily for Donnie the speaker still worked and his brothers and Casey could hear him, they looked towards Metalhead and saw the Kraang controlling Metalhead and was approaching the turtles,

"The ones that which are called 'turtles', will now be called turtles that are destroyed." The Kraang said through Metalhead and for some reason, Mikey breathed a sigh of relief,

"Phew! I was really afraid at the beginning of that sentence, but then I just sort of lost interest towards…" but Mikey was interrupted when Metalhead pointed its rapid-fire laser at the turtles,

"-okay, now I'm afraid again!"

Back at the Lair…

"AAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!" Mikey's scream sounded out the laptop and now Donnie's face paled. Donnie tried pressing more buttons on his controls thinking he could get something, but nothing happened.

"No, no, no, no!" he then went to the laptop thinking he could still try something from where he was, "Maybe I can override- "but Donnie was interrupted when April placed a hand on his shoulder,

"Donnie! I think now is when the games stop." April said which got through to Donnie. He threw the controls against the ground which smashed it.

"You're right, April! My brothers need me!" Donnie said as he ran to the elevator to the surface,

"WAIT!" Donnie stopped when Master Splinter suddenly called out to him and holding Donnie's staff. "Here!" Splinter then threw the staff towards Donnie, who caught it. Donnie looked at it, thinking how he was going to take on Metalhead with a wooden staff. But didn't think too much of it and bowed to Master Splinter in thanks and then proceeded to leave the lair for the rescue.

Back inside the Kraang base…

Luckily for the turtles and Casey, the liquid explosion took out the Kraang droids and estroyed all the mutagen that was sitting around them and so only had to worry about the alien controlled Metalhead. The robot fired its rapid-fire blaster at the turtles, who ducked and ran to dodge. Mikey then threw his nunchucks at the robot and got what he intended for. The chain of the nunchucks caught the blaster and pulled it back and gave the four fighters enough time to surround Metalhead.

"Everyone, aim for the Kraang!" Leo ordered. Although he should've said that since now the Kraang knew what everyone was going to do now. It then activated the booster thrusters on Metalhead's feet and it flew upwards above everyone's heads.

"Did Donnie really have to go overboard in designing this thing?" Casey asked. And the response he got was Metalhead firing its flamethrower at them. The four fighters all jumped back to avoid the flamethrower. They separated and the Kraang saw its chance. It flew to Mikey and slammed its metal fist into Mikey's face. Mikey was sent flying back due to the force of it and landed near a wall on his shell. Raph was next, he tried to stab the alien with his sai but metalhead was too fast and rammed a punch into Raph's plastron, he then grabbed Raph by the arms and threw him onto his front plastron right next to Mikey. Next up was Casey and Leo. They charged at Metalhead but the Kraang responded by flying straight into Casey, winding him, and then threw him into Leo and knocking them back with the other downed turtles. It was then that six more Kraang droids entered the fray to back up the alien controlled Metalhead. They surrounded the three turtle ninjas and Casey,

"Now you will be destroyed." The Kraang said as the four sprang back onto their feet for another round of fighting, "Which one wants to be first to be destroyed by Kraang?"

"No-one!" all turned their attention above as Donnie suddenly appeared from above and landed in between the Kraang and his brothers and Casey. He made quite the entrance too.

"Donnie! Banging entrance, dude!" said an impressed Mikey.

"You guys deal with the droids. I'll handle Metalhead." Thinking that Donnie had a plan for taking down his own creation, the other four listening and scattered around Donnie and Metalhead to fight the droids. As soon as they did, the Kraang droids began to fire their blasters at them.

"It is the maker of the tech, which was the tech that was of the Kraang." The alien said through Metalhead. Donnie spins his staff in a circle while the Kraang readied Metalhead's rapid-fire blaster.

"Come on, give me your best- but Donnie was interrupted when Metalhead suddenly fired at him. He dodged to one side and then the Kraang switched weapons and fired its rocket fist at Donnie. Donnie countered by swinging his staff like a bat and knocked the rocket fist back at Metalhead. The fist connected with Metalhead's face. Donnie rushed in, seeing his chance and swung his staff at the alien on the head, but the alien blocked the attack with Metalhead's hand, and then he fired the rapid-fire blaster at Donnie. He quickly cartwheels and dodges away to avoid the laser fire. After a series of cartwheels, he found himself backed against one of the building's support beams. Donnie readied his staff again as the Kraang stopped firing at him but as he did, he only just then noticed that his staff was broken in half. It must've been broken when the Kraang fired at him and hadn't notice one shot slicing through the staff.

"Not again." Donnie said with irritation and then had to duck behind the support beam as metalhead fired a pair of explosive balls from the eye-sockets. The explosion knocked both back but as Donnie looked at his cover, he noticed the beam was unstable which gave Donnie an idea.

"That might work." He said as he then ran to stand in between it and the alien. "Hey Kraang! The one who is called your mother wears the boots that are made for combat!" ? Donnie had said this to provoke the alien he aimed that 'insult' towards,

"The comment that is made by you shows ignorance of Kraang! The ones known by you as mothers…" but Donnie interrupted it,

"Just come get me!" and he got what he wanted. The Kraang fired the ball explosives from its eye-sockets at Donnie, who responded by charging forward with a war-cry. He narrowly dodged the explosive as he charged at metalhead head on and the explosives destroyed what was left to keep the building's support beam up. NOW! Donnie jumped over Metalhead with a front somersault and landed on his feet behind him. Donnie plan worked as the Kraang turned Metalhead around to face Donnie, not noticing the beam falling towards it. Donnie leaped to the side to avoid getting squashed but the Kraang stood its ground, still not noticing the falling beam. Just as Donnie turned to Metalhead, the support beam slammed into Metalhead and picked up a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Donnie saw Metalhead squashed underneath the support beam, with only its arms and a bit of its left foot sticking out. The alien was squashed along with it as only a few of its tentacles could be seen sticking out. Donnie had won this fight.

"Booyakasha!" he shouted. The other four had also just finished taking out the droids when they heard him shout this.

"Sounds weird when he says it." Mikey commented.

"Sounds weird when you say it." Raph said at Mikey,

"Maybe you guys should switch to 'Goongala'!" Casey added,

"No, Casey. Just… no." Raph said, earning him a scowl from Casey. The four fighters approached Donnie to congratulate him. Sort of.

"Nice job, bro!" Mikey said with a smile,

"Way to go, Donnie." Leo said, proud of his brother's accomplishment. Donnie smiled at the praise he was getting.

"Yeah, not bad. Except for that part where you built the thing in the first place." Donnie's face turned down with annoyance at Raph's comments that didn't stop, "And the part where it broke, and the part where it tried to kill us! And the part- "but Donnie stopped Raph's ranting of him,

"Okay! I get it." Donnie wondered if at this point from now on, his inventions were always going to do more harm than good.

9:27pm… The Lair…

After the turtles bid goodnight to Casey and vice-versa, they decided to try and beat other at the pinball machine, Leo pointing out how close they were to winning. All except for Donnie, who was sitting at his workbench, tinkering with something and looking forlorn. Splinter noticed this and approached him.

"What troubles you Donatello?" he asked and even though Donnie had his shell to him, he turned head to Splinter as to acknowledge him and let out a sigh,

"This was all my fault, Sensei." It seemed that nearly getting his brothers killed weighed heavily on him.

"You are responsible, yes." Though nearly getting his brothers killed was not what Splinter meant and so Donnie understandably misinterpreted it. But Master Splinter continued on, "Responsible for destroying the mutagen…" Donnie turned his whole body around to Master Splinter at this, "…responsible for saving the people of this city, and responsible for defeating advanced technology using only ingenuity, bravery, and a simple staff." Donnie smiled at Master Splinter's praise which allowed his lesson to come through.

"Thanks, Sensei. Maybe you're right." Donnie said.

"I am!"

"I guess with the proper training, there's nothing better than a simple staff." Master Splinter nodded in agreement. Donnie then turned to the thing he was tinkering on. A small rocket attached to a wooden pole. He picked it up a twirled it above his head, "Except a laser-guided, missile launching staff!" he slammed the other end of the staff to the ground that promptly activated the rocket. The rocket let out a beeping noise that caught the turtles' attention. "That's not supposed to that! RUN!" Donnie yelled and at this, his brothers scrambled away from the pinball machine. Master Splinter just face-palmed at this. The rocket launched and headed straight for Donnie's brothers. Luckily, they scrambled enough out of the way and the rocket exploded against the ground. The explosion was small, but still powerful enough to launch the three turtles across the Lair. Mikey landed in the centre pool, Raph landed plastron first on the bridge above it and Leo landed on the edge of the pool. Raph got up and turned to Donnie with a mad look on his face,

"Donnie! Stop trying to kill us with your inventions!" he yelled from the bridge as Mikey got out and Leo stood up. Donnie was downcast again but then Master Splinter placed a hand on his shoulder to get Donnie to face him,

"Donatello, your is brilliant when it comes to science and technology, there is no question about that. But just remember, that the simplest of inventions can go a long way." Master Splinter said and was those words that allowed something to click inside Donnie's inventive mind.

"Simple. Right, of course!" he then rushed back to his next invention.

"Perhaps you should do this after a good night's rest, Donatello?" Master Splinter said but Donnie protested,

"But, Sensei, this next invention should take less than an hour to make!" whatever it was that he was thinking of, he didn't hesitate to start building. Raph tried to approach him and forcefully drag him away, but Splinter stopped him from doing so.

8:04am…

It was early morning practice, and there was no sign of Donnie. Leo offered to get him, but Master Splinter didn't allow this.

"But why, Sensei?" Leo asked,

"Because Leonardo- "enter Donnie from his room, "He has just arrived." Splinter said and as the other three turtles turned to Donnie, they noticed he wasn't carrying another six-foot wooden staff.

"No weapon, Donnie?" Raph asked.

"Actually, I was just getting a feel for my newest creation…" Donnie said and then he pulled out a two-foot long metal baton.

"A baton? Really? That's your latest invention?" Raph asked as though underestimating Donnie for his new weapon.

"Watch this." Donnie said and all eyes were now on the baton. He pressed a hidden switch on the baton and the baton extended out, turning it into a six-foot long metal staff. "This _steel_ baton can extend into a six-foot long _steel_ staff." Leo and Splinter were impressed, Mikey was equally so as shown by his mouth that was now open in an O shape. Raph's face didn't show it but he was also impressed. "…and…" Donnie then pressed another hidden switch and on one end of the staff, a one foot long blade extended out of its hiding spot. Now the staff was a naginata. "…now it's a naginata."

"Impressive, Donatello." Splinter praised.

"The simplest inventions really can go a long way after all." Donnie said and he took this lesson to heart. From now on, his simple inventions can and will save him and his brothers a lot of trouble in future missions.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hoped you liked it! I liked Donnie's extension staff from the 2014 movie and wondered why neither Donatello from the 2003 or 2012 cartoons had one. So, I thought to give him one here. You can be sure that the other three turtles will have improved weapons later on! Until then!**


	13. Angels and Dragons and Turtles! Oh my!

**me: Hello readers! I've decided to introduce another character into this story. We only see her in a couple of episodes in the 2003 cartoon and so far, not at all in the 2012 cartoon. I'm putting a stop to that in this fanfiction and I hope you all like her as i'm going to see to it that she gets as much of the spotlight as the other human characters. Enjoy!**

* * *

May 20th… 2012… New York City… 11:11pm…

Initiation. Definitely a word that can change your life. Initiation into a life-changing career, initiation into a university or even an initiation into a respected club for activities. However, for one such young thirteen your old girl, initiation into the Purple Dragons is life-changing but for all the wrong reasons. She had a punk(ish) look about her; purple dyed hair in pigtails, a ripped up blue hoodie, purple gloves, pink arm wraps, brown trousers held up by a belt and a pair of black trainers make up her look. She wasn't alone however as she was with a small group of Purple Dragons and the group had just pried open an anti-burglar shutter on the window of a shop with a pair of crowbars.

"Clutch time, Angel." One of the Purple Dragons said to the girl called Angel, he crouched down to the pavement and picked up a brick and handed it to her. "Think you got the juice to be a Purple Dragon?" he said this and then Angel took the brick from him.

"Oh yeah. I got the juice!" after she said this, she threw the brick at the window and smashed it into hundreds of pieces. Robbery in progress.

The Purple Dragons exited the store through the back exit with all their ill-gotten gains, though they were in no rush, bearing in mind that for reason, whatever they do involving crime was always met with black and blue bruises courtesy of the hockey vigilante and the four mutant turtles.

"Psst!" and today would be no different. The moment the Purple Dragon turned to face whoever it was that was getting his attention, a foot smashed across his face and sent him flying into some of his buddies.

"Ha! See guys? You never know what you might find on the old nightly training run!" Mikey said as he hid in the shadows with Raph, Leo and Casey but for some reason, no Donnie. Which annoyed Casey for a good reason…

 **Flashback to a few hours ago…**

9:18pm… The Lair…

Donnie had been working on his 'flowchart' as part of his 'master plan' to get April to hang out with him. The flowchart had various different scenarios on it that had everything from homework, being called a total nerd (thanks to Raph), to simple boredom, Donnie seemed to have thought of everything. His three brothers thought that he was being slightly ridiculous and took a few jabs at it, though Donnie was determined to his 'master plan' through to the end.

"Hey, guys!" April's sudden announcement as she ran to them had Donnie scrambling to hide his flowchart from her.

"Hey, April." Donnie said with about as much cool as a disorganised kid. Oh wait. That's exactly what he was.

"Guys, check out this news story." April said as she flipped open her laptop and clicked on the news story in question.

" _In local news, Dr Tyler Rockwell has been reported missing. I spoke with his colleague, Dr Victor Falco."_ The clip switches to a middle-aged man in a lab coat, _"I hadn't heard from him in days, so I checked into his lab. But the place was a mess and he was gone. I… fear the worst." "Police say that- "but_ April stopped the video clip and though the turtles saw what she wanted them to see, Raph still didn't see what was up,

"So?" he asked and April explained,

"So, the Kraang have been kidnapping scientists from all over the city. Including my dad. Maybe that's what happened to this Rockwell guy." She said,

"Or they may not be related at all." Leo said trying to be reasonable but April was having none of it,

"There's only one way to find out, we should check out that lab." April said with determination and Donnie supported her,

"April's right, we should investigate. What'sthat?Youguysarebusy?" Donnie said quickly to make sure no-one butted in and did a mock gasp before saying, "Guess it's just the two of us, April." He said as he and April set out to Rockwell's lab, leaving the other three turtles behind.

"Heh, I bet that wasn't on his flowchart." He flips over the chart but, "Whoa! It is! That is spooky."

10 minutes later…

If Casey had been a little faster, he would've caught Donnie exiting the Lair with April, but here he was entering the Lair wondering why there were only three turtles and not four.

"Hey, guys. Where's your brainy brother?" Casey asked and Raph opted to put him out of his misery before it started,

"He went topside with April. Alone." The look on Casey's face was absolutely priceless to Raph and Casey stomping around the Lair and looking like he wanted to smash some furniture was the cherry on the cake. "Hey, you know what might cheer you up?"

 **Back to now…**

And so, here he stood with three of the four ninja brothers staring down some Purple Dragons. Raph was right, beating up some Purple Dragons would definitely cheer him up.

"Now class, who can tell me what he did wrong?" Leo asked the thugs as he pointed to the Purple Dragon that Mikey just kicked in the face.

"You mean besides being a badly dressed, law breaking, good for nothing, low life street punk?" Raph said as it was part question and part answer. Insulted by this, the Purple Dragon rose up to their feet and them,

"Raaarrgh! Bust 'em up, dragons!" one of them said and then on command, they charged at the turtles and the vigilante.

"Wahoo!" Casey shouted as he leapt into the air and swung his hockey stick into the face of one of the thugs and knocking him to the ground.

"When are these dragon dudes gonna learn?" Leo said as he too leapt into the air as he launched into a flying kick into another Purple Dragon and knocking him to the ground next to the other downed dragon thug.

"Green beats purple every time!" Mikey declared and right now, he was right. He dashed at one the thugs and smacked him across the head with his nunchucks with such speed that he was practically a blur. The thug crashed into the wall behind him and fell to the ground unconscious. Raph meanwhile had smacked two thugs away with a split kick to their guts and knocked them over too.

"They'll all be black and blue by the time I'm finished with them!" Raph said and it this point, Angel who had been watching the whole thing, decided to make a break for it, and as the turtles and Casey were still in the shadows, she couldn't quite see them.

"We've got a runner!" Leo announced as he pointed to the direction she was running in.

"Don't worry, it's covered!" Raph shouted out as he punched and elbowed two more Purple Dragon thugs to the ground.

Angel ran through the alley, determined not to become someone else's punching bag. She did not envision her first night with the Purple Dragons to be like this. As she ran, she looked behind her to check if they were behind her. They weren't. But the vigilante was right in front of her and she didn't notice until she literally ran right into him. She stumbled onto the ground on her back while the vigilante stood his ground and pointed his hockey stick at her.

"Going somewhere?" he taunted and when she looked up at him, Casey recognised her immediately. "Angel?" this momentary reluctance gave Angel the time she needed to get up and continue running from him. She had even more time when another Purple Dragon attacked Casey with a lame punch, and was countered by Casey shoving him head first into a wall. At this point, Angel had reached a dead end up against a locked alley gate, but instead of stopping, she began climbing it. As she neared the top, Casey caught up to her and grabbed her ankle.

"Let go of me, you creep!" she said in desperation and kicked at Casey. The kicks all missed Casey as he tried to get through to her.

"Angel, wait!" he said and at this point, the other three turtles arrived and instead of intervening, they stayed in the shadows to see this scene play out. "It's me, Casey!" he said as he lifted his mask from his face and Angel saw him.

"Casey?" she said and then jumped from the gate to see him face to face. "What are you doing here?" she should have got what he was doing when he was busy bashing heads earlier but Casey decided to word it a different way,

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life." He said but Angel didn't understand what he was saying,

"What? The Purple Dragons? Haha, no, they're my possy! My family." When she said 'family', Casey looked forlorn.

"But you got real family at home. You and your grandma only have each other. What if something happens to you?" Casey pleaded but Angel just took a look of sadness and anger.

"My grandma died a while ago." Angel's response threw Casey a bit.

"…what…?"

"…yeah… I know…. Last month. Unknown causes apparently." She said and then she snapped back at Casey. "But me being a Purple Dragon is none of your business!" she declared and in response, Casey pushed aside what he had just learned a second ago and pointed his hockey stick at the downed thugs against the wall.

"Until you start breaking the law. Then it is my business." He said but Angel bit back,

"Yeah, well, I don't see no badge on you." And at this, Casey retorted,

"And I don't see a Purple Dragon tattoo on you. Not yet. So why don't you quit while you still got the chance." The retort turned a plea but Angel was having none of it,

"I ain't quitting nothing. Tonight was my first test. Tomorrow, I am going to pass my initiation. And then I'm going to wear my dragon with pride." As she said this, Casey scowled,

"That dragon comes with a price. I don't think you know what you're getting yourself mixed up in." Casey pleaded again and then Angel walked away from the gate and Casey followed.

"Yeah… maybe you're right!" as Angel said this, she suddenly turned and shoved Casey down and then dashed to the gate, "But I can take care of myself!" she then climbed over it and ran off into the distance, leaving Casey with his ninja friends far behind. At this point, the three mutant turtles stepped out from the shadows and approached Casey as he stood back up,

"Casey, what was that? Who was that girl?" Raph asked,

"Her name's Angel. I know her from the neighbourhood, and I promised her grandmother that I would help keep her out of harm's way. But it seems that she died some time ago…" he explained and then Leo raised his thought of concern at this,

"So, she's a Purple Dragon now?" he asked which gave Casey a scowl,

"Not if I can help it."

May 21st… 9:44am… The Lair…

It was after morning training had finished that Leo had noted how much that Donnie's performance was lacking. Normally, his skill -whilst needing improvement- was held at a much higher standard than what he saw. It was then that Leo decided to confront Donnie as he was leaning on the railings of the bridge in the middle of the Lair, but Master Splinter sensed this, and stopped Leo before he could confront Donnie.

"I know what you are thinking, Leonardo. But you cannot tackle a puzzle in which you don't have all the pieces to." Splinter said, which made it clear that he knew something that he didn't. Splinter was right; when a person tries to confront an issue when they don't have all the facts, they can inadvertently make things worse or their words of presumed reasoning won't make any sense. And after he spoke his sagely wisdom, he left Leo behind to confront Donnie, as he knew what his problem was.

Leo watched on as Splinter approached Donnie on the bridge, and as the leader of his team of ninjas/brothers, he felt as though he should be in the loop. Then again, Donnie wasn't in the loop either about his brother's encounter with a young girl named Angel, therefore the feeling would be mutual if he knew.

"Don't like it when there's something going that you think should involve you?" Leo heard Raph say to him, and in response, Leo let out a defeated sigh, as he knew why he wasn't in the loop,

"If this was an issue that needed all of us, Sensei would've called us all together and then we would resolve whatever it was together." It was true in a sense. Since they first arrived on the surface, most of their missions and encounters just happen to be when they were together, and sometimes like in the cases that involved the Foot Clan, it was imperative that they knew what the other was thinking. Now however, it seemed as though this new issue involving Donnie could be resolved without his brother's assistance.

" _WHOOAAA!" *SPLASH*_

Leo and Raph's attention suddenly went from talking to each other to looking at the sight of Mikey being launched into the pool. Master Splinter had walked away from Donnie and towards Mikey and the result seemed to be Mikey lifting himself up from the pool, without a care in the world that his Sensei just threw him in there.

"Do you think Mikey finally got on Sensei's nerves?" Raph asked,

"No way. Sensei has got an infinite amount of patience around us all. If he didn't, we probably wouldn't be as strong or as good as ninjas that we are now." Leo reasoned, though he would like to know why Master Splinter had thrown Mikey into the pool in this time only and not the other thousand or so times.

7:32pm…

Leo wasn't surprised that Mikey wasn't paying much attention when Splinter threw him into the pool. The only things that were on his mind then was the music in his ears and then pizza when he got out of the pool. He was a bit surprised by how long Donnie and April were having a conversation without Donnie blubbering out dorky sentences.

" _RAPHAEL! RAPHAEL!"_

But colour him surprised when the sound of a young girl's voice echoed in the Lair, courtesy of Donnie's speakers that he installed in the warehouse to let them know who was in the warehouse and so close to the Lair. This young girl was calling out to Raph.

"Sounds like trouble, Raph. Someone you know?" Leo asked almost demanding,

"How should I know?" Raph said with just as much confusion,

"We should find out what's going on." Leo said,

"Leo, as much as I would like to help. I can't. There's a mutant out there that needs to be stopped." Donnie said suddenly,

"But Donnie, we may need you." Leo ordered but fortunately for Donnie, Slinter overheard them and intervened,

"Leonardo. As much as I would prefer that all four of you confront a mission, it is as I said before; you cannot tackle a puzzle in which you do not have all the pieces to. And this time, two puzzles have arisen tonight, and I feel as though that Donatello and April can resolve their issue as well as you, Raphael and Michelangelo can resolve yours. Now go, you cannot linger any more than you have to." With Splinter's reasoning and order, the group of five exited the Lair in different directions; Leo, Raph and Mikey exited through the elevator to the surface while Donnie and April exited via the abandoned tunnels.

 **Backtrack…**

6:44pm… Purple Dragon Stronghold (some abandoned warehouse) …

Throughout his teen years so far, Casey had admitted to some daft and silly things he has done. Some were even downright stupid. But willingly walking into an abandoned warehouse that was infested with Purple Dragon thugs, armed only with a baseball bat he had hidden inside a backpack, with the intention of getting an uncooperative teenage girl out of building of thugs was by far the most stupidest thing he has ever done so far. Luckily, none of the Purple Dragons recognised him without his mask on. What was sad about the situation he found himself in was that there were quite a few teenagers like himself and Angel inside the warehouse going through the Purple Dragon 'initiation'. Watching one such teenager getting beaten almost half to death in the middle of a wrestling ring in the middle of the building made him sick.

" _WAS THE INITIATE WORTHY OF THE DRAGON?"_ one thug asked over the speaker, to which the reply was a resounding 'BOO' from everyone on the room. Everyone except Casey that is.

" _BRING ON THE NEXT INITIATE! GIVE IT UP FOR ANGEL!"_ Casey gasped when the announcement was made and when Angel jumped into the centre ring with delight as the Purple Dragons cheered. But not for her, the cheering was for her opponent who entered the ring, wearing metal gloves. Probably steel.

" _DOES SHE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO CALL HERSELF A PURPLE DRAGON?"_ the reply for announcer was also a resounding 'BOO' and 'NO' from the audience. It was then that another opponent entered the ring. He was just as big as the other Purple Dragon in the ring and Casey knew that Angel was no ninja, like his ninja turtle friends. She might put up a brave fight, but the two thugs in the ring would clobber her in less than a minute.

Fight on. Angel jumped into the air as the metal gloved Purple Dragon swung a punch at her, the jump allowed her to dodge the punch and counter with a mid-air kick to his chest, knocking him back but not on his back. The other Purple Dragon also threw a punch at her, she weaves back and dodges the attack and then she counters with a swift but not powerful kick to the thug's chest. She then somersaults backwards to gain some distance between her and the thug. If it were any of the ninja turtles in the ring, they would've noticed the other thug behind them, picking up a pipe to swing at their heads, but Angel didn't have that advantage and so behind her, the thug picked up a pipe with the intention of bashing her brains in. But Casey wasn't going to let that happen. From his backpack, he brings out his bat and hockey mask and covers his face with it.

"Oh no you don't." he said as he entered the ring. "Angel! Behind you!" Casey shouted to her, which surprised everyone inside. The armed thug had no time to think as Casey swung his weapon at the thug's head. The attack connected and when the thug hit the ground, he wouldn't be getting up for a while. Angel was surprised to see him here, but she quickly kicked her other opponent in the gut and this time, it knocked him other. She turned to Casey and was annoyed to see him here and interrupting her initiation.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, irritation clearly evident from her voice.

"Your new 'family' was about to cave your head in!" he answered but the audience was clearly angered by Casey's actions and five of them entered ring and surrounded both himself and Angel. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here." Casey said to her, unfortunately it was too late and it was then that Hun suddenly blindsided him with a punch to his stomach that had the force of a freight train behind it. Cassey was sent flying across the ring and only the corner bar stopped him, and when he crashed into it, the pain that went through his body was intense. Hun approached Casey and Casey pondered how he didn't notice him coming when he hit him. Hun grabbed Casey by his head and picked him up high off the ground, and though his mask covered his face, Hun's next words made him question if Hun was the King thug or something else entirely,

"Hello Jones. Long-time no see." Hun said as Casey struggled to try get out of his grip but Hun didn't so much as budge. "Think I don't know that's you under that mask, Jones? I've got eyes and ears all over this city. Word is that you've been disrespecting the Dragon!" at Hun's last sentence, he simply chucked Casey across the ring like he was a ragdoll. Casey hit the rings elastic ropes and he landed near the edge of the ring. Back when Hun blindsided him, he was disarmed of his bat, his only weapon at the moment and when Hun threw him to the edge of the ring, he picked up the bat on the floor. Casey stood up and wielded the bat with both hands and took a swing at Hun. Hun response was to catch the bat with ease and disarm Casey again. Casey couldn't hold his balance after that and he stumbled onto his back on the ground. Hun then snapped the bat like a twig. Angel watched all of this in the background and was beginning to question if her choices put her friend in this position, and when Hun picked up and slammed Casey against the ground like a wrestler would, she thought exactly that. Her choices did put her friend Casey in this position and so, she quietly slipped away from the crowd.

Hun looked down at Casey, and then gave an order to his thugs, "Lock up this piece of garbage. We'll play with him some more later." Hun ordered as he left the ring leaving a battered and beaten Casey lying in the middle of the ring at the mercy of the other Purple Dragons.

6:58pm…

Angel wasn't going to let her mistake cost the life of her friend. Her real friend. As soon as she slipped away from the crowd of thugs, she hid inside an air vent thanks to her thin and light frame. Inside the air vent, she quietly made her way to where the Purple Dragons had locked up Casey. When she found him locked in a cell, he was screaming and shouting declarations of what he was going to do once he got out. Needless to say, it was a no wonder to her that he made an enemy out of the Purple Dragons.

"Haha! Big words, vigilante." Hun said as he approached a chained-up Casey from the opposite end of the bars. "Did I ever tell you how much fun I had burning down your home and killing your father?" Angel face paled the moment Hun said this.

"Least I had a father. Punk." Hun then grabbed Casey by the shirt through the bars like he was the lightest feather in the world. In this case, that probably wasn't too far from the truth. He brought Casey to him so they were face to face,

"Laugh now, bastard. Because tonight, the Purple Dragon will be having a smack-down contest, and you're the prize. Whoever wins gets to take your head as their trophy to keep, and to warn anyone else about crossing us." After Hun's declaration, he left Casey behind. Once he left the room, Angel used that chance to appear from the air vent and landed outside of Casey's cell.

"Angel?" Casey couldn't quite believe his eyes, he didn't even notice her until she was outside the cell. Angel looked a little distraught as she fished through one of her pockets for something that could undo the locks of Casey's cell and shackles,

"I heard the whole thing, Casey. I'm so sorry I got you into this mess. I'm gonna get you out! I swear!" she then began to pick the lock with a hairpin she had fished out of her pocket but her distress about the situation frustrated her and after only a few seconds of trying, she gave up.

"I can't do it! This is all my fault…" she then covered her face with her hands as a few tears escaped her.

"Hey, Angel, don't worry." Casey said as reassuringly as could manage in his predicament. At least it helped Angel calm herself somewhat.

"Casey, what are we gonna do?" she asked after she wiped her eyes.

"Listen to me, I have some friends who can help. Real good friends. Go to the abandoned warehouse at the corner of Eastman Land. Ask for Raphael. Hurry!" Casey ordered and Angel wasn't about to let Casey down and with that she made her way out.

Present Time… 7:32pm… Eastman Land Abandoned Warehouse…

It took a little bit longer than she originally thought, but eventually, she made it to the warehouse that Casey had told her about. She didn't know why he would direct her to this old unused warehouse of all things, but she didn't question it. She went up to one of the boarded windows and peered inside. She saw evidence of someone living inside and assumed it was the Raphael that Casey spoke of.

"RAPHAEL! RAPHAEL!" she shouted in the warehouse. She walked away from the window and began to wonder if she had the right address.

Half a minute later…

She was really beginning to wonder if she was in the right place at all. But then the warehouse doors opened up. She waited anxiously about Casey's friends but when they revealed themselves, Angel was momentarily thrown for a loop. From the warehouse, three humanoid turtles emerged from the shadows of the warehouse.

"Woah…" was her only response to the sight of them.

"Alright kid, this had better be good." Raph said as he approached Angel. She could only look on completely bewildered by the sight of them, but then remembered why she was here in the first place. She shook herself from her bewilderment and then said,

"Right! It's Casey! He's going to get killed for sport if we don't help him now!" Angel said and when she did, Raph and the other two turtles had their attention completely on her,

"Kid, tell us everything." Raph said.

Angel asked them not to judge her when she mentioned she was going to join the Purple Dragons, but that still didn't stop Leo from scowling at her. She winced but she continued on how Casey got blindsided by Hun, the leader of the Purple Dragons and got tossed about like a ragdoll and beaten almost to a pulp. And after failing to help him escape his cell, he told her about the abandoned warehouse they were in. All the while, Leo scowled, Raph looked ready to bash some heads, and Mikey looked as though he was paying attention but really, he was spaced out.

7:39pm…

The plan would be simple. Since the Purple Dragon's base would be too heavy guarded, sneaking in wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, they would use disguises and just walk through the main door. The they would find Casey, break him out and escape. Simple. Except for the disguises part. Luckily for them, the speakers were still on and Master Splinter overheard everything. He called them on their T-Phones and told them he had disguises ready to use. The turtles had wondered how Splinter had human clothes when he didn't use them but didn't question it.

Angel waited for the turtles to reappear and when they did via the elevator, she saw that each of them were carrying a set of clothes. They exited and Raph was the first to complain.

"No way am I putting these on! Don't tell me humans actually wear stuff like this."

8:00pm… Purple Dragon Base…

The run to the Purple Dragon base had been awkward for the three mutant turtles and exhilarating for Angel as they made quick work racing across the rooftops. Exhilarating for Angel because of her previous training as a gymnast before her introduction to the Purple Dragons, and awkward for the three mutant turtles because Leo had argued that they put their disguises on first. Orders were orders and besides, how hard can Rooftop running be with clothes on. Well apparently, the new experience made them to never want to wear clothes again. The three turtles had similar clothing on; Leo wore sunglasses, dark blue wool hat, red jumper, blue jeans, white trainers and a big black trench coat. Mikey wore sunglasses, blue hat, white hoodie, orange coat, blue jeans and black trainers. And Raph wore sunglasses, grey hat, an ugly coloured purple hoodie that helped cover his head, a big blue coat, beige trousers and black trainers.

They approached the Purple Dragon base entrance by foot on ground level and Angel reminded them to be cool and to follow her lead. With their disguises, walking right into the base was easy. The four mingled into the crowd easily enough.

"Dudes, it's like we just walked in on an ugly convention." Mikey commented on how the Purple Dragon thugs all around them as they were all badly dressed, and had horrible taste in hairstyles.

"Hey, then you must feel right at home, Mikey." Raph's comment caused Mikey to scowl at him.

"Guys, part of being a ninja in disguise is how to act like everyone else." Leo said and as Raph looked about him and then folded his arms, he could only comment,

"If you really want to act like a Purple Dragon, try getting your butt kicked by a ninja turtle." Raph said.

"I'm down with that!" Mikey said and then bumped fists with Raph.

"Okay guys, take note, we got exits there and there." Leo pointed to the exits in question, "Guards posted around the perimeter, everyone is pretty heavily armed, so can we please try to avoid a fight?" the moment Leo said this his brothers looked at him like he cracked a bad joke and then Leo realised why. So far, all their attempts to not get into a fight had resulted in them getting into a fight. "Right, what was I thinking?"

After Leo said this, all the lights went out except for the ones shining on the ring, with Hun in the centre as a large cage the size of the ring was lowered to the ring. Hun held a microphone to mouth and spoke,

"Tonight's cage match championship will determine which one will win the honour of ridding the Purple Dragons of a major pain in our backs." As Hun announced this, Casey was lowered down upside down on a piece of metal shaped in an X. he was held up by shackles on the X. When Raph saw Casey being lowered, he drew his sai from out of his disguise,

"Lousy thugs. I got your pain in the back right here." Raph said but not aloud, it was a quiet declaration so that no-one could hear him except for his brothers and Angel.

"Easy Raph. Let's not blow our cover just yet." Leo ordered as he lowered Raph's hands to make sure no-one saw his sai. It was then that Hun placed Casey's mask on his face so that all the Purple Dragons could recognise him and it worked. Now all the thugs in the warehouse were revved up for the chance at revenge for what he had been doing since he first appeared out of the blue.

" _SO, ARE YOU READY FOR A SHOT AT THE VIGILANTE?"_ the crowd roared as several of them entered the cage ring. And Casey was raised up to the ceiling.

"How are we going to get him down from there?" Mikey asked and Angel answered,

"I know how to get to the catwalk." She said and then Leo gave his order,

"Okay, Mikey go with her. Don't do anything fancy, just stick to the shadows and cut him loose. Raph, you and I will make sure that spotlight stays on us." Leo ordered. He and Raph will provide the fights and make sure the lights stay on them and not on Mikey and Angel. Raph was itching for a fight anyway. The drawback? They had to keep their disguises on. "Let's go."

" _LAST CHANCE TO RAGE IN THE CAGE! ANY TAKERS? ANY TAKERS AT ALL?"_ it was at this point that the two disguised turtles entered the cage ring.

"Are you sure this is going to work? We've been through your plans going south several times before." Raph asked.

"Can you think of a better way to stall for time? Besides, you need the practise." Leo reasoned.

"Me?" wondering why Leo would think that, Raph nonetheless entered the cage with Leo.

" _TWO NEW INITIATES HAVE ENTERED THE COMPETITION! LET'S SHOW 'EM HOW PURPLE DRAGONS TREAT NEWBIES!"_

Atop the catwalk…

As Leo and Raph walked into the ring, it provided a perfect distraction for them as they walked on the catwalk. As Mikey and Angel neared Casey, they saw he was guarded by two Purple Dragons. Easy. Mikey brought out his nunchucks and used the kusarigama extensions. As he did this, Angel looked down below and saw Leo and Raph knocking down thugs like it was practise. Mikey threw the kusarigama chains at the thugs and the chains wrapped themselves around their mouths, preventing them from making any noise. They tried to grab at and yank the chains off, but in response, Mikey yanked on his chains and dragged them towards him. The moment they were face to face with Mikey, the last thing they saw was either a green fist or a green foot to the face before they blacked out. After the guards were dealt with, Mikey and Angel approached Casey.

"Angel, your back! And you brought company!" Casey said.

"Dude, what are friends for?" Mikey said as levered Casey onto the catwalk and when he was safely above the catwalk, Angel undid the shackles on his wrists and ankles. Casey let a sigh and a groan as he was lowered down on safe footing.

"Okay, we got him. Now let's get of here." Angel said but Casey protested,

"No! Not until I settle the score with Hun." Said Casey even though he was wounded.

"But Casey, you're hurt. And you don't have a plan, or weapons or anything that can help you match that gorilla." Angel pleaded and when Casey didn't say anything, he silently admitted to himself that in the state that he was in, attacking Hun now with all of his thugs surrounding him would be suicide at best. Mikey looked over the railings of the catwalk and saw in the arena down below that Leo and Raph were knocking down Purple Dragons one by one.

"They look like they're having fun!" Mikey said and when he did, Angel walked down the catwalk to a nearby window. When she looked out, she saw a clear unguarded way out that would easily lead them into the dark alleys and out of danger.

"Guys, we have an escape route." She said to Mikey and Casey. And as she did, Mikey saw Raph had just lost his disguise.

"Uh… guys… it looks as though our cover has been blown!" Mikey said as he pointed down to the arena below. The audience looked ready to rip apart Raph and his antagonistic words didn't help any.

"We can use this thing to get them up here." Angel said as she pointed to the X shaped metal slab that held Casey upside down. Mikey got to work and used the crane to lower the slab to the arena below. Just in time as well since Hun had just ripped the cage door off its hinges and entered the ring.

"GUYS, UP HERE!" Angel shouted out and with that, Raph and a still disguised Leo hopped onto the slab and held on as Mikey levered them up towards the catwalk. Hun watched on as his plans for a fun night out went down the toilet. Or in this case, up to the ceiling. With the three turtles plus Casey and Angel now on the catwalk, Angel led them to the window.

8:13pm… Outside the base…

Even though the amount of noise coming from inside the building was a bit loud, it was still less disruptive than one would think. As such, no humans and therefore no Purple Dragons were around to hinder anyone. Thus, when one of the building's windows smashed outward and then three mutant ninjas and two human teenagers flew out and landed safely on the ground, they had a clear path to run and escape.

"You know, for a group of ninjas, that wasn't very stealthy!" Angel said as she and Raph carried Casey on their shoulders.

"One thing you should know about us; stealth usually goes out the window in favour of an all-out brawl." Raph said and then the group of five ran from the building and quickly into the darkness the city alleys provided.

8:39pm… Eastman Land… Abandoned Warehouse…

With an injured Casey in tow, it took a little longer to reach home losing their disguises when they entered.

"So, do you guys live here?" Angel asked as they stood inside the warehouse and noticed the elevator in the middle of the room. Though to her it just looked like an alien egg.

"Nah. We live underneath it." Mikey answered.

"Oh."

"But I do." Casey said which earned a solemn look from Angel.

"You've lived here since Hun… you know…" Angel said as she referred to when Hun killed Casey's dad. Casey's response was only a slight nod in confirmation.

"To think I was going to be part of that…" Angel said bitterly to herself,

"Yeah, how did you get mixed up with them?" Raph suddenly asked and as Leo neared the entrance to the elevator with Mikey, they stopped and turned to Angel, Leo expecting an answer and Mikey stopped to listen to story time. They helped her with this dilemma, she owed them an explanation at least. And she knew this would come up eventually, better do it now. Angel stopped in her tracks which caused Raph to stop with Casey.

"…I… I don't know… my Grandma died, and suddenly I was all alone… I don't know why I accepted their invite to become a Purple Dragon… but…" that was all Angel provided and going by the looks of it, it was the best she could manage as she held her head down in shame. But to Leo and Raph, it was clear; sudden loneliness made her not want to deal with it, and she wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible. It made her vulnerable, and going by the number of teenagers inside that building, they must have been vulnerable as well. If not, then they were most likely just common bullies before eagerly joining the Purple Dragons.

"Alright. We get it." Leo said solemnly. "Let's just get him inside so we can patch him up." He said as they ordered and with that, all five entered the elevator that would lead to the Lair.

8:41pm… The Lair…

Angel was more concerned about Casey than taking in the awe-inspiring looks of the Lair. But she did however take note a fourth turtle and another human girl talking with a tall humanoid rat. The humanoid rat in question took one look in her direction and scowled. She felt her nerves flaring up and the fourth turtle and the human turned in her direction. The group of four with an injured Casey walked to other three in the Lair.

"Sensei, please, allow me to explain." Leo pleaded as they approached the other three as they headed in their direction which was the makeshift living room.

"Indeed, please explain to me why you have brought a complete stranger into our SECRET HIDDEN LAIR!" Splinter all but demanded and suddenly everyone else felt very small. They all were also suddenly glad that they weren't Leo, as it became clear that it fell upon him to explain their latest new arrival and potential ally.

* * *

 **me: Hey there! I felt as though Angel was unjustifiably left out out of a majority or story arcs when her character could have been flushed out, considering her relationship with Casey in both the cartoons and the comics. At least here, her character can be flushed out. Hope it goes well!**


	14. Young Scientist vs Mad Scientist

**me: Hello readers! Sorry about the long wait. I'm not even sure if this chapter is any good or not. Let me know though! This chapter takes place at the same time as Chapter 13. Enjoy!**

* * *

May 21st… 2012… The Lair… 9:29pm…

Forget death by Kraang laser blasts, forget death by being cut to pieces by the Foot, forget mission failure, the only thing the turtles feared at this point was their Sensei's reaction (or lack thereof) to their latest mission and (maybe) accomplishment. All the turtles except for Donnie, were nervously awaiting what Master Splinter would do to them after now having learned why the newest arrival- Angel- was standing in their home with an injured Casey. He wasn't mad at Casey being in the Lair, they had known him well enough that he could trust Casey to keep them a secret. But Angel was a different matter. She was practically a stranger having only just learned about their existence tonight.

Leo had nervously explained the events that happened tonight, and nervously wondered why his Sensei looked so stoic. During his explanation, Raph and Angel lowered Casey onto the sofa where Donnie was patching him up. All those bruises and injuries would heal and Casey would be back on his feet after a day or two.

"My sons…" Splinter said stoically, which to all of his sons but Donnie, it was even worse than disapproval, "…you have done well in rescuing Casey." Relief filled each of their quivering souls at their Sensei's words. "I am also ready to learn about Donatello's and April's latest adventure. I believe you were about to start, my son." Leo, Raph and Mikey all visibly relaxed as their shoulders and heads slumped down and they let out a breath that they didn't even realise they were holding. Angel on the other hand, still felt a bit tense now that the decision to either be welcomed or not in the Lair was now up to Master Splinter and it was also what her actions from now on would decide on. All eyes were on Donnie and April now that things were no longer tense. It seemed as though Donnie and April were just about ready to start their end of the story when the others walked in and created a bit of tension, but now that it was gone, they had freedom to talk.

Donnie's POV…

May 20th… 9:18pm… The Lair…

Okay so… I've been thinking about this all day, and since evening training was over, I decided that I should do it. I had been working on my flowchart for fifteen minutes now and things were looking like they were coming together…

"What'cha up to up there, Donnie?" and then Leo and my other two brothers walked in on me working and I was a little surprised but I answered anyway,

"Just finishing the touches on my Master plan." I answered,

"Master plan?" Raph was confused as he would be with whatever it was I was doing,

"Yeah to get April to hang out with me." My reasoning was met with mocking laughter from my brothers and Leo decided to undermine my plan with some semblance of reasoning,

"Try this- 'April, do you want to hang out with me?'" Leo said but there was more to my Master plan than that.

"Eh, see see, it's not that simple. I have to prepare for every scenario to maximise my chances of success." I have no idea why Leo was grinning like that but at this point, I couldn't care less. After all, the only thing I was concentrating on was the girl of my dreams.

"Aaww! That's so romantic!" Mikey said and I agree. I bring my finished flowchart out and spread it across the work bench. I clear my throat,

"Yeah, so, for instance, if she says can't because she has homework, then I will suggest a formal study session and serve healthy brain stimulating snacks." That was one scenario,

"Well what if she says she can't because you're a total nerd?" Raph said bitingly but I was undeterred because I came prepared for that too,

"Ah, that's this thread here, I will list my many non-nerdy qualities and suggest activities that highlight my coolness, such as skateboarding or shark wrestling." I said,

"I'm betting that the shark will like Donnie-flavoured turtle soup." Raph said which him a few snickers from Leo and Mikey and a scowl from me.

"Hey, guys!" April's sudden announcement as she ran to us had me scrambling to hide his flowchart from her. I didn't need her to find out my master plan, I want her to think that I know how to deal with every case scenario.

"Hey, April." I said with about as much cool as a disorganised kid. Oh wait. That's not what I am! I am as cool as the best Hollywood star!

"Guys, check out this news story." April said as she flipped open her laptop and clicked on the news story in question.

" _In local news, Dr Tyler Rockwell has been reported missing. I spoke with his colleague, Dr Victor Falco."_ The clip switches to a middle-aged man in a lab coat, _"I hadn't heard from him in days, so I checked into his lab. But the place was a mess and he was gone. I… fear the worst." "Police say that- "but_ April stopped the video clip and though my brothers saw what she wanted them to see, Raph still didn't see what was up, however I began to see what see was meaning to tell us,

"So?" he asked and April explained,

"So, the Kraang have been kidnapping scientists from all over the city. Including my dad. Maybe that's what happened to this Rockwell guy." She said,

"Or they may not be related at all." Leo said trying to be reasonable but April was having none of it,

"There's only one way to find out, we should check out that lab." April said with determination and I supported her,

"April's right, we should investigate. What'sthat?Youguysarebusy?" I said quickly to make sure no-one butted in and did a mock gasp before saying, "Guess it's just the two of us, April." I said as April and myself set out to Rockwell's lab, leaving my three brothers behind in my dust. As we exited, I couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of going to do something alone with April, like this could be a date!

9:32pm… Rockwell's Lab…

Any self-respecting scientist would never leave their workplace without some manner of security. I guess Rockwell thought the same thing too and installed an alarm on his door so that if anyone tried to enter without a key, the alarm would go off. Good thing I came prepared for a scenario like this, I brought a small electrical device and got to work.

It took no less than a few second to crack the lock and simultaneously disarm the alarm, which did me proud that my inventions are once again working like I intended them to do.

"There isn't an electronic lock that my digital lock pick can't crack." I said as I opened the door to the lab.

"Smooth!" April said and I giggled a little at her praise which to me meant a lot. We enter the lab and Dr Falco from the news report was right. Although the lights were off and it was really dark inside, our flashlights helped us see the mess inside.

"Wow. This place is a wreck." I said as I saw the Dr Falco wasn't kidding. No self-respecting scientist would destroy their own lab, except for the mad scientist kind. April then pointed her flashlight to an animal cage at one side of the room and she grimaced,

"Uuggh. He must have been experimenting on animals." She said with disgust at which I agreed, and being a turtle, it made me feel more sick at Dr Rockwell at the moment. April then pointed her flashlight at the dentist lie chair that we were standing next to and the image of mad scientist flashed through my mind.

"Either someone was up to some secret research or they were renting space to one freaky dentist." I commented and given how the lab was arranged, it could very well have been both. We then turned our attention to the desk in the corner of the room, if there was going to be useful information, then a desk would be the best place. Besides a few scientific equations on some paper that I can understand, there was nothing on the desk that could proves useful, so then I started looking through the drawers. The first drawer had a few bottles and beakers full of chemicals but the second drawer caught my attention. It was empty but there was a glow behind a hidden panel. I opened it and April brought out the source of the glow. A familiar canister of Mutagen. Before our questions came to mind, our investigation was interrupted when April looked past me,

"Donnie, look out!" April shouted and in response, I held my new steel staff out to block an incoming attack. It worked and something hit the side of my staff with a metallic 'CLANG', after I blocked the attacked, I disarmed the attacker and simultaneously pinned him to the ground, face-up. The grunt that came from being slammed into the ground was a definite indicator that the attacker was a grown man. After that, rushed to turn the lights on and when she did, we recognised the attacker,

"Dr Falco!"

Dr Falco saw me as I pinned him to the ground and took on a look of surprise and temporary fear.

"Aaargh! What are you?" he said with nervousness all over,

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you." I said as I avoided his question and responded to his fear.

"You already hurt me." Dr Falco said in response. And then I stood up to let him up.

"I mean… anymore." I said as I offered a hand to help him up. And in that second, I saw that he was no longer surprised by my appearance. It was almost as though he seen something like me before.

"We're here to help." April said as she approached us.

9:35pm…

When there are not that many of a kind of person, like for instance, a scientist, you would expect that number of people to have at least heard of each other through a type of internet community. However, 'all the same types of people all know each other' is a phrase that should be an inaccurate stereotype. In this case, when April told Dr Falco why we were here, he didn't fit the stereotype that all scientists know each other,

"I'm sorry, April. I wish I knew something about your father. But I don't. However, myself and my colleague, Dr Rockwell have heard about scientists being kidnapped all over the country, including New York. It had us on edge for a while now." Dr Falco said and his words stuck to me. It would seem that it wasn't just New York City where scientists were disappearing, but all over the country. Which brought me to the question about the canister of mutagen in my hands.

"So, what can you tell us about this?" I asked as I referred to the canister.

"Some shady goon paid Rockwell a lot of money to experiment with it." Dr Falco answered.

"Is this the guy?" April asked as she brought up a picture of a Kraang Droid in a human suit on her phone.

"That's him." Dr Falco confirmed. The Kraang were involved after all. "But I wanted no part of that stuff. Who knows what kind of… monstrosities could result. No offense." He said as he looked at me.

"Some taken." I didn't like being referred to as a monstrosity. I am far from it! April then turned to the cage at the other side of the room.

"Is that what was in that cage other there? One of his… you know…" I was grateful for April for not using the word 'monstrosity', seeing as I had taken some offense it.

"That's where he kept the monkey he was experimenting on." Guess scientists do use the stereotypical monkey as a lab experiment. And judging by the state the room was in, it was safe to say the monkey- now probably a mutant- went on a rampage.

"Woah. It sure didn't look like it liked being locked up in there." I said.

"Rockwell didn't treat it very well." Falco's words had me questioning him now,

"You knew?" I said.

"Yes. Despite our differences, we were colleagues. I decided to give him a chance, otherwise I would've called the police about his wrongdoings. But I was too late it seems."

"Maybe the Kraang didn't take Rockwell. Maybe the monket broke out of that cage, went berserk and took off with him. Or worse." April came up with a reasonable conclusion.

"Alright. Thanks for talking with us Doctor." I said as I turned away with April with the mutagen in my hands.

"WAIT!" Dr Falco suddenly said. We turned to him.

"What is it?" April asked.

"Do you know what you're doing with that stuff?" it would appear the mutagen had him concerned.

"We've dealt with this stuff before. We know what it does. Believe me when I say touching it will have nasty consequences." I said. Dr Falco thought about this for a minute or so until he gave us the okay to take it away. Though something about the way that he stopped us made me think he wasn't concerned about us at all.

9:44pm… New York City Alleys…

One good thing about wondering around in the darkness of alleys is that no-one will be able to clearly see a mutant turtle going into the sewers with a teenage girl. As April and I walked into the alley, April raised a question,

"So, how do you suppose we're going to find Rockwell without any leads?" she asked.

"Well, we might find out more once we take a look at his flash drive." She then turned her head to me as we walked to the manhole cover.

"What flash drive?"

"The one I swiped off his desk. As I wrestled Dr Falco to the ground earlier." In truth, it was actually just before Falco's surprise attack.

"Nice." I'm really starting to like it when compliments me.

"Yeah. Well, keeping cool under pressure is the hallmark of a- "but then we were suddenly interrupted when a giant monkey ambushed us from the rafters above. We were caught off guard by its sudden appearance and when it roared at us threateningly and stepped in front of April in a protective manner and drew out my new toy, my steel extension staff.

"Careful Donnie! That's a dangerous mutant!" she said as a warning.

"That makes two of us!" and it was true. I can be dangerous when I want to be or need to be. I span my staff around and then jumped up to swing it onto its head. But the mutant monkey was faster than I thought as it slammed a punch into my stomach. The attack caught me off guard as it disarmed me. My steel staff clattering to the ground. The monkey picked up the staff and half expected it to use it against me, but instead it slammed my staff against the ground and against the walls repeatedly until it was bent completely out of shape.

"Donnie?! Are you okay/" April was starting to get a bit concerned.

"I'm good." I said as I tried to sound reassuring but instead, because the wind was temporarily knocked out of my sails, I ended up sounding like a kicked puppy. I charged at the monkey unarmed with the intention of launching as many kicks and punches as possible.

 _*BANG*, *CRASH*, *SMASH*, *CRUNCH*, *BASH*_

That could've gone better. I took a beating. Nothing I did seemed to be working. I thought that fighting a mindless monkey would be easy. And April was getting more and more concerned about me.

"Donnie?"

I stood up as I answered her, still trying to sound reassuring.

"I was just figuring out his timing. He is going to regret- "but I was interrupted when the mutant monkey slammed a punch into my gut. And from there the beating continued,

 _*SMACK*,_ "That one- ", _*BASH*,_ "That too- ", _*CRUNCH*,_ "And that!" _*BASH*,_ "Argh, a lot of regrets, monkey!" I could barely stand after that brutality and it continued when the monkey hopped onto my head and launched me back onto the ground. I didn't end there as the next thing a knew, the monkey leaped onto me as I was on my back and continued to brutally punch my head in as I tried to block each attack (uselessly). The beating ended when it picked me up and threw me across the alley. I tumbled to a stop lying next to a very worried April. April crouched next to me and looked me over. Concern all over her face. I had bruises and marks all over my body, blood was running down both of my nostrils, I had a black eye behind my mask and my discarded staff was heavily damaged. As she looked me over, the mutant monkey approached us, most likely intent on either finishing me itself or it would go after April. To my horror, it was after April. She backed away as much as she could, but the mutant monkey kept approaching, it then launched itself at her and grabbed her by the arms and roared in her face. It roared and growled, but as it did, April wondered if it was really as dangerous as she first thought it was. She and the monkey locked eyes, and when they did, April's tone of voice changed and body language changed.

"It's okay, everything's going to be alright." She said in a calm and soothing voice. To my surprise it worked. The monkey went from uncontrolled attack to calm and collected. April looked into its eyes again as she began feel there was more to the monkey than meets the eye. But that couldn't be, right?

"What? What is it?" she said as calmly as possible but the result was the monkey simply and acrobatically leaping against the walls until it raced across the rooftops and out of sight. Once it was, April wasted no time in coming back to my battered side.

"Donnie. Are you hurt?" she asked as she tried to sit me up, but I was in so much pain that it hurt to try and sit up,

"Just my pride… and my internal organs." I say truthfully.

The Lair… Present time… May 21st… 9:41pm…

(Normal POV)

Suddenly, a roar of laughter echoed throughout the entire Lair, interrupting Donnie's story. And the laughter was directed at Donnie courtesy of his three brothers and Casey,

"Hahaha… you-you got beaten up? By a monkey? In front of your girlfriend?" Raph said as he tried to keep himself from laughing at Donnie, who was getting more and more annoyed by the second.

"She's not my girlfriend! And that monkey was a very strong mutant!" Donnie said in his defence but the mocking laughter continued,

"Yeah, I'm sure he went _bananas_!" Leo punned and even more laughter followed,

"Oh, nonono, he went _ape_!" more puns from Leo and more laughter followed. Luckily, a strong defence came to Donnie's rescue in the form a tall and annoyed ninja master.

 _*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*_

"It is very much frowned upon to laugh at someone else's misfortune. Especially if it resulted in many bruises. Donatello, please continue." Master Splinter scolded, and Casey was stopped from laughing as well when April and Angel swatted his head and got a satisfying 'OW' from him, even though it was weak.

"Anyway…"

( **Continue Flashback)**

Donnie's POV

The Lair… May 20th… 10:43pm…

The walk back to the Lair was very slow, as April made sure to be extra careful in helping me along the many tunnels and leading to home. We decided against taking the easy way home via either rooftop running for obvious reasons or darting through the shadows because I couldn't in this state. So, we ducked into the nearest manhole cover, and from there, we slowly made our way home. When we arrived, we were greeted by a very concerned Master Splinter.

"Donatello! April! What has happened?" Master Splinter asked as he helped April carry me to the sofa.

"Donnie got beat up by a mutant." April answered as she and Sensei lowered me onto the comfort of the sofa. From there, Master Splinter examined all of the bruises and marks on my body and the blood that was coming out of my nostrils. He then left me with April to get the medical supplies. Master Splinter had always had some old methods ready but thanks to April getting us food supplies every so often, there was also medical supplies with them.

"April, care to explain to me exactly what happened while I start with Donatello's recovery." Master Splinter requested and April heeded it. She went into detail of what happened before and during the mutant monkey attack while Sensei applied a healing ointment to my bruises and marks. "Donatello, my healing methods and the ointments will help the bruises and injuries heal over a night's rest. Including the one inside your nostrils. Though you will still feel aches all over your body." Master Splinter explained.

"Oh… okay… I'm fine with that." I really was fine with it, and then Master Splinter picked me up and draped my arm over his shoulder as he began to carry me slowly to my room upstairs.

"You will recover faster if you go to bed now. April, feel free to let yourself out." Master Splinter said as he walked me slowly to my room.

"Okay. Donnie, get better soon." And with that, April exited the Lair via the elevator. When we entered my room, sleeping now sounded like the best idea ever. Master Splinter lowered me onto my head and though the aches slowed me down a bit, I eventually wiggled my way into a comfortable position and sleep overtook me within moments.

8:12am…

Master Splinter was right, his healing methods and the ointments that he applied worked wonders for my body. Of course, I knew the scientific reasons for why and the know-how on how his methods worked. And it was as he said, the marks and bruises were gone though I felt achy everywhere. After getting showered and cleaned up and having breakfast, it was morning training. Knowing that I would be sluggish for this session, Master Splinter went easy on me. He may be strict when it comes to our training, but he knows our limitations and whenever and injury or otherwise would hinder us, he would ease up. Though for my brothers, it was business as usual.

9:44am….

After training, and I was still feeling ever so sluggish. I noticed that during training, Leo saw that my performance during morning training was not at my usual standards. And I waiting for him to come over to where I was at the bridge to hear what he had to say. But I wasn't that surprised when instead of Leo. It was Master Splinter who appeared by my side.

"I just don't get it, Sensei. I mean, I'm highly trained martial artist, how can I lose to something so… mindless?" I asked mostly to myself and Master Splinter seemed to know what was stopping me from having a clear answer,

"If I am correct, Donatello, you used your mind to play out a fight that hadn't even begun yet. You are very intelligent, my son, there is no denying. But in a fight, you cannot be… up here." Master Splinter explained as he pointed to his head in reference. But at the time, I just didn't understand.

"But Sensei, my brain is everything to me. I'm not sure what I am without it. I just… I can't understand how to not think at all." To me, there was no other way I could word it.

"Do not fret, my son. This is a worry that many an intelligent being such as yourself have in their lives. What is an intelligent person when he or she doesn't rely on their minds? The answer is simple, Donatello." When Sensei said it was simple, I caught my interest. "There is more to a person than just their mind. You can be surprised by just how much a person can do when they rely on their instincts. Often times, instinct can help overcome even the mightiest of obstacles." Instinct. I have studied how humans and other animals have them and I have studied how often they are used. But I have never seen it in person. "Donatello, if you recall what happened to you last night, I can assure you that the monkey was relying on instinct to attack you. Monkeys are often renowned for following their instincts and are often good learners." All true. But I still needed proof. It was then that Mikey walked across the Lair with his headphones on listening to some music. An idea then popped into Master Splinter's mind. "Observe." And I did as Master Splinter approached Mikey. Mikey looked oblivious to his approach as he had his eyes closed while listening to his music.

Mikey kept walking towards Master Splinter and for a second, I thought he was going to walk straight into him, but then something happened next that helped something click with my mind. Master Splinter threw a punch at Mikey, who just reacted by swaying back and slipped behind Master Splinter, he then flipped over his head as Sensei sent another punch to his head and when Mikey landed again, Master Splinter threw another punch at Mikey, who caught it whilst still with his eyes closed. I was stunned at the display.

"You see, Michelangelo does not think." Master Splinter said to me and Mikey seemed to hear him through the music.

"Thank you!" Mikey thanked him, though he seemed to disregard that double meaning behind Sensei's words. But that's my point of view anyway.

"Your welcome." Sensei said and as Mikey began to walk away past Master Splinter, he- for whatever reason- used his long tail to trip up Mikey, who couldn't regain his balance and he toppled over into the centre pool. He then turned his head to me,

"You must find the space between your thoughts and learn to live there. That's what Michelangelo does." Splinter said but I couldn't help but point out the tiny flaw in his words,

"True, but, Mikey's got a lot more space between his thoughts than I do." I said and cue Mikey climbing out of the pool as if Sensei didn't trip him into it.

"You know, I've got the sudden craving for pizza!" Mikey said.

"Yes well, Michelangelo has his challenges too."

6:55pm…

It wasn't until the early hours of the evening that April arrived at our home. By that time, I had already fixed my broken and bent steel staff. I made it and it was easy to repair, took me only a couple of hours. I decided that since April was technically involved in the situation with the mutant monkey, I would wait until she arrived so we could go over the flash drive's files that I stole from Dr Falco. She was grateful that I waited for her, and then we began going through the files on April's laptop. It wasn't until a few moments later that we began to piece things together and began discussing it with each other,

"Well, these notes aren't very difficult to follow, and it looked as though, for whatever reason, Dr Rockwell was able to modify the mutagen." I said to April,

"Why would he do that?" she said,

"He thought he could use it to create a neurochemical that could give someone psychic abilities. I'm guessing that the mutant monkey we encountered had these psychic abilities." But my statement just made April frown slightly,

"What is it, April?"

"I don't think that monkey was psychic. I get the feeling that it was just relying purely on instinct." April said.

"So… if the monkey wasn't really psychic and just relying on pure instinct, what was the instinct? Primal violent urges?" I said but April had another reason,

"Actually, I get the feeling it was just scared. Whatever Dr Rockwell did to it must have been horrific. And when it saw us leaving the lab, it probably thought we were worked with him. Especially since you and it fought."

"Okay… but then why did it stop when you and it made eye-contact?" I asked,

"Well… eye-contact is a very powerful thing. When we locked eyes, it must've instinctively knew that we weren't a threat." It took me a moment to fully process the words but when I did, I turned my head back to the laptop.

"So… modifying the mutagen to create a neurochemical to give someone psychic abilities… why?" my question then raised another, "That was a whole canister of mutagen that we found…" I then turned my head to my workbench where the still full canister of mutagen was kept. I made sure no-one else but me got close to it. "Dr Rockwell must've been in contact with the Kraang… somehow. And he willingly cooperated, instead of being kidnapped… what changed? Why is he missing now?"

"Maybe, he had a change of heart? Found out how much damage the mutagen can really do when his lab monkey mutated. Then tried to hide from the Kraang. He's either hiding or the Kraang already have him?" April speculated. All speculation, so I continued reading the notes. Then just a few pages down, something unsettling caught my eye.

"Oh."

"What is it, Donnie?"

"These notes… Dr Rockwell's files don't have him listed as the owner of any lab animal. In fact, these notes are saying that he was using samples of monkey DNA for another experiment that didn't involve the mutagen." I said but even though it took a few seconds to process what I said, April eventually caught on to what I was implying,

"Wait… monkey DNA but no actual monkey…" April said and as she probably said the words in her head, I felt the need to voice them,

"Dr Falco said that Rockwell was experimenting on a monkey. But these notes say that there was no monkey. So, if he never had a monkey, what broke out of that cage?" my words rang out like part of a horror film.

"Falco must have lied about the non-existent monkey. And what was that monkey that attacked us?" April said and when she did, one thing became clear to us: we needed to find that monkey before someone else does.

"We need to find that monkey." I said. But…

"Okay… how?" April said.

"Well, when you and the monkey locked eyes, it calmed down. We will then gently coax it to the warehouse above and make sure it stays out of harm's way." That was my answer on what to do IF we found the monkey but April saw that I kind of avoided her question,

"Okay good, we have a plan on what to do IF we find it. But HOW are we going to find it in a city as big as New York?" this was a very tough question to answer. We sat at the workbench, staring into space as we tried to think of a method to find one monkey in the biggest city in America. Scouring the rooftops and just hoping for something to appear was grasping at straws. Driving in a vehicle might've helped us scour the city a lot quicker. Note to self: build drivable vehicles. I then before I knew it, I stopped thinking about the monkey and started thinking about what vehicles I could build.

7:32pm…

" _RAPHAEL! RAPHAEL!"_

The sound of a young girl calling out to Raph had interrupted our train of thoughts on the monkey. Those speakers I had installed in the warehouse above to let us know who was inside worked nicely. Though I was surprised that a young girl that we didn't know was calling for Raph. And it worried us.

"Sounds like trouble, Raph. Someone you know?" Leo asked almost demanding,

"How should I know?" Raph said with just as much confusion,

"We should find out what's going on." Leo said,

"Leo, as much as I would like to help. I can't. There's a mutant out there that needs to be stopped." I said suddenly, which didn't sit well with Leo,

"But Donnie, we may need you." Leo ordered but fortunately for me, Splinter overheard us and intervened,

"Leonardo. As much as I would prefer that all four of you confront a mission, it is as I said before; you cannot tackle a puzzle in which you do not have all the pieces to. And this time, two puzzles have arisen tonight, and I feel as though that Donatello and April can resolve their issue as well as you, Raphael and Michelangelo can resolve yours. Now go, you cannot linger any more than you have to." With Splinter's reasoning and order, the five of us exited the Lair in different directions. Leo, Raph and Mikey exited through the elevator whilst April and myself exited via the tunnels. As we ran through the tunnels however, it dawned on us that we didn't have a plan to find the monkey and we stopped mid run.

"Donnie, we don't have a plan." April said and although she probably wasn't going to like what I said for a plan, I said it anyway,

"Actually, I do. We stay in contact with our phones. You said that the monkey is scared. A scared mutant can be dangerous but it will also make poor decisions. One of which would be to get accidently spotted by a random person. You're going to ask around or eavesdrop on anything relating to the monkey, while I search from the rooftops." I knew my plan was vague, and April didn't hesitate to point that out,

"That's grasping at straws." She said,

"I know… but it's better than grasping at smoke." Definitely better than grasping at smoke. This was a long shot, but at least we had a shot to go by.

7:46pm… The Surface…

When grasping at straws, expect no results. But occasionally, grasping at straws does work and April didn't have to ask around for a missing monkey. The moment I left her to search from the rooftops, she overheard two police officers talk about a strange looking 'ape' roaming around on Bleaker Street, but decided to not check it out as they thought it was absurd.

"Donnie, the monkey was sighted on Bleaker." April said to her phone, knowing that I was on the other end of it.

"I'm on it, April." I responded and then headed towards Bleaker. Though as I neared Bleaker, I spotted the monkey myself, it was moving fast across the street away from Bleaker,

"April, I just spotted him. He' headed south on Delancey." I said to my T-Phone.

"Drat! We won't be able to catch him!" April said on her phone. But we still gave chase. We saw the monkey, so we felt as though we couldn't give up now. As I ran on the rooftops, I spotted the monkey changing direction at Delancey, and I used the ladders and stairs on the building I was on to safely scale down to the ground. As I did, the monkey was now running away from me as I gave chase. It raced across the walls and he streets with me chasing after it.

"April, I'm on his trail, I'm right behind him. We're just entering Houston, we can catch him with a classic pincer movement." I say to April over the phone.

"Alright." She responded. I had just entered Houston as I chased the monkey when it suddenly changed direction again into an alleyway. I turned into the same alleyway, but when I did, the monkey seemingly disappeared. At that moment, April appeared at the other end of the alleyway, expecting me and the monkey to be there, but there was no monkey. We approached each other as we seemingly lost sight of the monkey.

"April? Where did the monkey go?"

"I thought you said it was right behind you?"

"I was…"

As turned and headed to where April appeared at the other end of the alleyway to see if she could've missed it, April stayed behind in the alley. Unbeknownst to me, April felt compelled to search the dumpster in the alley. She opened the dumpster and it was empty of rubbish but it did have the monkey inside. It was huddled in itself, hands on its head with its head on his knees. It was very much scared. When it realised that the bin had been opened, it nervously looked up and saw April, no malice or fright, but gentle and calm eyes. She reached in with her hand as if to gently help it out. The monkey instinctively felt that it was in no immediate danger and let itself out. I saw the monkey and April, they locked eyes again and as I approached, I did so making sure not to let the monkey feel as if I was dangerous to it. Lucky for me that the monkey, when it saw me, it didn't attack me.

"Okay, so we found the monkey. But we still don't know what happened to Dr Rockwell for sure." As I mentioned Rockwell, the monkey turned to me and grabbed my shoulders as it hopped up and down and let out a series of monkey sounds. I was confused, but something seemed to click in April's mind.

"Actually, I think we do." She said and as she did, the monkey quieted down and stopped bouncing, and it looked at April and looking… hopeful?

"What? How?" I asked.

"I think this IS Dr Rockwell."

8:01pm… Abandoned Warehouse… Eastman Land…

Getting the monkey… Dr Rockwell… into the warehouse was surprisingly easy enough. Though I was curious as to how April seemingly knew that the monkey was Dr Rockwell. As we entered the warehouse, I decided to let Master Splinter know about our new warehouse guest. The three of us stood in the warehouse as the monkey took in its surroundings.

"I am curious, April. How did you know that this monkey was really a human?" Master Splinter asked, which caught my attention as well.

"I don't know. Sometimes I just… get a feeling about things." As a scientist, I needed more than that but for now, it seems like that was the most that April could answer. Master Splinter however, seemed intrigued,

"A feeling? Hm… interesting…." But when I turned my attention back to the monkey, I realised something horrible,

"Donatello?" Master Splinter seemed to recognise the look on my face,

"Master Splinter, we need to confront Dr Falco." Master Splinter nodded in agreement.

"Donnie, I think you're thinking the same thing that I am." April said.

"Yeah. Dr Falco lied about Rockwell experimenting on a monkey. He must've also lied about not knowing about the mutagen. He's probably lied about everything else. I'm also thinking that it was Rockwell who broke out of that cage." I concluded. It was a dangerous conclusion but then I realised something else, "This isn't good."

"Why? What else are you thinking, Donnie?" April asked and she wasn't going to like my next assumption,

"Why? Because whatever it was that Falco used Rockwell for, he got. What if he does something like this to someone else to get what he wants next?" my assumption made April gasp as a look of worry painted her face.

"But Donnie, even if you're right and we should confront Falco… I can't. I'm not a fighter… I can't help you like your brothers can." April confessed.

"Do not worry, April. I will be there with Donatello. We will confront him together. Though I feel as though I may not be needed for this confrontation." Master Splinter said and with that, we left the warehouse with April and Rockwell inside. But not before a gave a glancing look behind me and I saw April looking worried for me. It made the blood rush to my head and my green face showed a very unmistakable pink blush.

8:10pm… Dr Rockwell's Lab…

I didn't take us long to reach the lab. Though when we entered, the lab was still a mess, but there was no sign of Falco. The room was a little too quiet and neither us liked it.

" _OOF!"_

Suddenly, there he was. Falco had tried to club Master Splinter on the back of the head with a golf club, but Sensei saw it coming and without looking, he caught the golf club with one hand and elbowed Falco in his gut, he then threw him past me and Falco landed on the floor in the middle of the room. He got up, though he was dazed and a little confused,

"There was no way you knew that I was there." Falco said as he glared at Master Splinter,

"You're right. I didn't think at all. Though my body knew and I just reacted instinctively." Master Splinter said.

"It's over, Falco. We know it was you who mutated Rockwell." I accused him and he didn't deny as he grinned,

"So you figured me out? No worries. Hehe… I used him as my guinea pig." The way revelled in what he did had sickened me and I'm pretty sure it did the same to Master Splinter.

"But why?" I wasn't going to like whatever answer Falco had, but I had to know why,

"Simple. I am on the winning side. The Kraang gave me an offer, and I was excited and eager to take it up." It worried me that he confessed to working with the Kraang willingly.

"Why on earth would you think that the Kraang would let you work with them? How do you know they won't just turn on you once you gave them whatever it is that they wanted?" it was his next answer that made him cross the line.

"That's what Rockwell was for. You know about the psychic neurochemical that he was working on? When the Kraang approached me, I knew they would dispose of me when I accepted their offer. So, I would do something that would forever ensure that they do not. I didn't JUST mutate Rockwell, I also perfected his psychic neurochemical by injecting it into his brain. I found that the neurochemical can only fully develop inside a living brain. I made sure he didn't get out of course…" that was why he caged Rockwell, "…and once the neurochemical finished developing, I extracted it and injected it into my veins. And it worked! Although… the extraction took its toll on Rockwell. Made him more animal than human. When you first arrived here, I knew I couldn't let you catch on to what I had done. So I let you believe I knew nothing about everything."

"Then why did you let me walk away with a full canister of mutagen?"

"HA! You think that was my only supply? I've a lot more where that came from. I knew you would have grown suspicious if I refused to let you have that canister. This one injection of the neurochemical has unlocked part of my brains potential. I am going to need more… and seeing as two test subjects have willingly walked in, I might as well use your mutated brains as well." Now it was on. I brought out my steel baton and extended it into its staff mode. I charged at Falco and swung my staff down onto his head. He merely sidesteps away and avoided it like he knew it was coming.

"What?"

"So you noticed? Hehe… the psychic neurochemical has given me the ability to read minds! I can know everything you think! Though, I like to know how that didn't work on you…" he turned to Splinter as he said this, "…perhaps you will be a more fascinating subject to study more than your SONS!" he read my mind again. This time he knows about my brothers. But I wasn't going to let him have his way, I swung at him with my steel staff repeatedly but his mind reading abilities allowed him to effortlessly read my attacks before they happened and he was almost like a practised and experienced ninja master as he sidestepped and evaded all of my attacks. And then, I stumbled forward as my last attack- a forward lunge jab with the staff- missed its mark and in response, Dr Falco sidestepped again and grabbed one end of my staff and threw me to the side. I was unable to keep a hold of my staff and I was smashed into the wall. As I hit the ground, Falco threw my staff to one side.

"I really must admire that complex brain of yours! You come up with so many ideas. Too bad I can see them all coming! By the way, do you really think you have a chance with April?" he read my mind again. I got up, and started thinking… no wait… that isn't working. I turned my head to Master Splinter and when we locked eyes, I remembered.

" _You are very intelligent, my son, there is no denying. But in a fight, you cannot be… up here."_ Master Splinter's words echoed in my head at that moment and I also remembered how Mikey was able to fight without thinking at all.

"I can do this. I just have to fight without thinking. No thinking." I pictured in my head how I was going to do that but as I did, Dr Falco laughed as he saw what my next attacks were. "Don't think. Just do." I stopped thinking and charged at Falco. I could see him looking at me as tried to read my attacks but gasped in surprised when he found nothing. I kicked his stomach and then landed a spin kick into his chest. He had no answer and he stumbled back and hit wall behind him. He then launched himself at me but I merely stepped to one side and tripped him, I then punched him jaw up with an uppercut and then stepped behind him and kicked his back. He had no answer again as he stumbled into the side counter. He turned around and once again uselessly tried to attack with a punch, but in response I just jumped and backflipped over his head, I then bounced off the wall with my two feet and launched myself at Falco, he was unable to defend as I pummelled him with punch after consecutive punches to his abdomen. The last punch hit Falco so hard that he was launched into the very cage he had locked Rockwell into. He was out cold at that point.

I retrieved my staff and put it back into its sheath on my back. Master Splinter approached me,

"I am proud of you, Donatello. You have learnt to think less in a fight, and used it to best your foe." I smiled at Master Splinter's praise, but only for a second,

"There's only one thing left to do now. Now that we know Falco is involved with the Kraang, let's see what else he knows about them." But when I turned to see what I assumed to be an unconscious Dr Falco, instead I see he is just regaining consciousness. I picked him off the cage/wall by the collar of his lab coat and shoved him into the wall. "Tell us what you know of the Kraang!" but he responded with only a slight smirk.

"I do not believe he is going to tell us anything. But do not fret, my son. We have already learned more than you think." Master Splinter said, and going by the look on Falco's face, I'd say he was right.

"Well then… I think we should still do something about him."

(Normal POV)

(Present Time)

10:02pm… The Lair…

"Come on, Donnie! Don't leave us hangin'! What did you guys do with Falco afterwards?" Mikey was practically begging for Donnie to finish the story and Donnie complied,

"Well, we… I actually tied him to a lamppost on the street with a sheet of paper labelling him 'Mad Scientist' and then just left him there for the police to collect." Donnie said this almost nonchalantly. Only the slight smirk confirmed him to be telling the truth. After a few seconds of thinking over what Donnie just said, all the teenagers in the room started chuckling and giggling at the scene in their heads. Even Donnie and April chuckled at this. Master Splinter just face-palmed, knowing he allowed it to happen. He still chuckled inwardly, not letting anyone know of his amusement.

10:12pm…

After the laughter had died down, it became time to disperse for the night. It was decided that Casey would spent the night on the couch until he recovered from the beating he got from Hun. Raph had told Angel that she can stay with Casey or spend the night in the warehouse above, seeing as she had nowhere else to go. She opted to stay with Casey, and would sleep on the armchair. Before she left the Lair however, April was called to the side of the Lair by Master Splinter. Master Splinter had set up a pair of cushions for them to kneel on.

"April, when you explained to me earlier that you had 'feelings' about things. It became clear that you have a rare gift. A sensitivity that I myself have trained my entire life to develop." Splinter said but April seemed to misunderstand this,

"Don't worry, you'll get it."

"I did! It just took me a long time!" Splinter said,

"That's nothing to be ashamed of." April said still smiling and Splinter just let out a sigh and then continued,

"What I am trying to say, is that I would like to train you to be a kunoichi. A female ninja." Master Splinter offered,

"Wow, that's quite an honour. If I do this, does that mean I can kick everybody's butt?!" she said,

"We don't believe in using our abilities that way." At his words, April quickly changed her tune,

"Oh! Right… me neither. But I could, right?"

"Yes… but I warn you; it will be the hardest thing you have ever done. It will drain mentally, physically and spiritually." Master Splinter's warning didn't seem to do its job,

"Well, can't be worse than high school. I accept your offer, Sensei." April agreed to be trained and although Master Splinter thought she didn't think this through, he would still uphold his part of his offer. He will train her.

10:13pm… Foot Tower HQ… New York City…

One would think that one of the dojo training areas at Foot HQ was a breeding ground for learning how to mercilessly beat your opponents to the ground. In one such area, Chris Bradford, in his full ninja garb, had just finished his late-night training. Which involved beating every low-ranking Foot Soldiers to the ground. It was then that the dojo door opened to reveal an ebony skinned Mexican man entering the dojo. His clothes were slightly torn in places, and the punkish style and the Purple Dragon tattoo on his right arm was proof enough that this man was a Purple Dragon. Chris knew this person and he wasn't pleased to see him.

"Xever. Why are you here?" Chris said, none too pleased.

"Orders are orders. Master Shredder called me here."

"That I did." The Shredders voice sounded behind one of the walls of the dojo. A hidden door in the wall opened up to reveal The Shredder himself.

"I have a mission for you both." Though the Shredder began, he couldn't help but notice Chris' glare towards Xever, but ignored it. "You two are to work together and use whatever means necessary to find Hamato Yoshi and his disciples. Or at least find information that can be used. Since Hamato Yoshi is here in this city, as well as the artefact that was found in the river, I have no doubt that my enemies are here. And you two will play your parts in finding them." The Shredder ordered but Chris felt the need to voice his objection about the mission.

"Master Shredder, I am more than capable of completing this mission alone. I don't need to work with anyone. Especially with this… street rat." Chris said,

"Are you sure, lapdog?" Xever bit back,

"Anytime you wanna test me- "but Chris' challenge was interrupted by Shredder,

"I am not interested in your petty rivalry. You two are familiar with the different parts of this city's dark underbelly. You will work together." The Shredder said with a more threatening tone. And Chris and Xever knew not to push it in their Master's presence.

"Understood, Master Shredder." They both said at the same time as they both also bowed to him. One thing they could agree on; even showing incompetence in front of the Shredder would most likely cost you your head. And so they agreed to work together, if only to keep their lives.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hope it was good! And, you might have guessed at the last few sentences that Xever will make his debut. Preview: Casey will want to kick his butt just because! Until then!**


	15. For Food and a new Friend

**me: Hello readers! This chapter is loosely revolved around the episode 'Never say Xever', with significant differences. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

May 29th… New York City Streets… 9:03pm…

Dark, quiet (strangely), was the street in which April walked through was this way, though she did wonder why that was the case. Normally, New York would still be buzzing with life and activity, even at this hour. But at this point, it made traversing through it that much easier, especially since she knew she was being followed. She stopped where she was (in front of a cinema) for a moment and turned around to address her followers,

"You guys wanna speed it up a little?" she raised her voice so her ninja friends could hear her and was almost surprised when Donnie suddenly appeared behind the cinema's ticket booth,

"Are you saying turtles are slow?" he said and Mikey appeared from behind a bin,

"That's a hurtful stereotype." Mikey said, to which Raph appeared next to Donnie behind the same booth,

"Gee, April. I thought you would be better than that." Raph said and then Leo appeared from behind part of the cinema's entry frame,

"Trust us, April. We are better off keeping a low profile. We find people treat us better when they don't know we exist." Leo said and April realised she forgot they were ninjas and not the stereotype turtle. They were anything but slow, and they could be anywhere, like the ninjas that they were trained to be. You know, when they weren't loud and bickering like modern day brothers.

"Sorry, guys. I'm just so excited to get you out of your home for a change." She said but Raph felt the need to question this motive,

"What are you talking about? We go out all the time." He asked to which April replied with a deadpan expression,

"Yeah but, tonight you're going to be doing something besides hitting thugs and other enemies." This made Raph look down in mock disappointment. "Don't worry, you're going to love this noodle place I found." She said further but Donnie was a bit sceptical,

"And you're sure we'll be welcome?" Donnie said nervously. And why not? A mutant ninja turtle basically waltzes into a restaurant of sorts where there will be people? All eyes (freaked out ones) would be on them and then flee in terror.

"Oh yeah. Mr Murakami doesn't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even know what you'll look like. He's blind." April explained and Mikey chose the wrong time to exclaim how awesome it was that a chef was blind. He got a slap to the back of the head courtesy of Raph for it.

9:06pm… Murakami's…

The five had just reached outside of Murakami's noodle restaurant when from the windows, they saw six shadows of human figures inside. From what they saw, it was four versus two.

"GOONGALA!"

Correction: four (probably Purple Dragons) vs Casey Jones and someone else.

"Casey?" April said, finding it a huge coincidence that her vigilante human friend was in the same noddle restaurant she was hoping to introduce her mutant friends to.

"That would explain why he wasn't in the warehouse earlier." Donnie said.

"He probably couldn't resist a good brain bashing." Raph said,

"But, who's he with? Is he fighting without us? Dudes, he is totally cheating on us!" Mikey said which led everyone outside to face-palm.

"Mikey, he isn't cheating on us…" Leo explained, then as the sounds of fighting continued to occur, the five outside leaned against the restaurant's door frame, "So much for not hitting thugs today." Leo then said,

"Oh well!" Raph said as he grinned at the thought of hitting people tonight.

Inside the restaurant…

"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey shouted as they all burst inside the restaurant, surprising all inside. From where they stood, they could see all the occupants in the room: four Purple Dragons (easy), a chubby man with Japanese features and wearing black glasses (Murakami) and a chef's attire was hiding behind one side of a counter, and as for the other two inside, the male vigilante was definitely Casey but the other one was female and also wearing a hockey mask. But those features and those clothes… there was no mistake. It was Angel behind that mask and fighting unarmed. Back to business,

"Alright, 'dragons', party's over. You don't want to get hurt." Leo said but Raph seemed to disagree slightly,

"But, we're more than happy to inflict hurt!" Raph said as he grinned at the thought. At the sight of the four turtles however, the four Purple Dragons, looked a little pale,

"Oh shit! It's those freaks again!" one of them said. None of the Purple Dragons were happy about this. They were struggling to cope with against Casey and Angel, and now they got to deal with fighting against the four turtles as well. They knew it, they were screwed.

"Dudes, what does it mean when they remember us?" Mikey asked and Raph answered with a grin,

"It just means they're not stupid enough to forget the last beating we gave them!" Raph said.

"Well guys…" Casey said before smacking a Purple dragon the head with his hockey stick, "Feel free to join in and relax!"

"Thanks for the offer! A bit of brain bashing soothes my soul!" Raph said as the melee ensued. One of the Purple Dragons charged at Leo from atop the counter and wielding an industrial mallet, he jumped from the counter and swung the mallet down at Leo. Leo however was much too quick for him, he sidestepped with ease and the mallet slammed into the floor, a split second later, Mikey leaped from where he stood a landed a strong kick to the thug's face and followed up with a mid-air spin kick to his head which sent the thug spinning into a wall. He wasn't done yet, as he came at Mikey with the mallet, Mikey responded by ducking out the way and let Raph take over. The thug swung the mallet at Raph uselessly and Raph dodged easily. He then struck the Purple Dragon with the back of his fist to the thug's face and the thug staggered until his back hit the wall. Meanwhile, Casey and Donnie were busy using their weapons to continuously hit a Purple Dragon in mid-air to each other. They were literally juggling a thug. During the chaos, April carefully crawled over to the hiding Mr Murakami.

"Mr Murakami, are you okay?" she asked and he responded with a slight and nervous nod. "Let's get you out of this."

As this was happening, Mikey had just kicked one thug in the face which gave Angel enough room to throw a pan lid at the thug like a Frisbee. The lid hit the thug in the ribs and he lost his footing and landed on the ground on his other side. Donnie meanwhile was carefully backing up as the thug he had just helped Casey juggle, was using the industrial mallet against him. As he nearly went up against the wall, Donnie did one last dodge from the mallet swing before kicked the thug in the ribs at an awkward angle that sent the thug flying up across the counter, before the thug hit the ground, he was caught by Raph who then threw him over the cooker, and was again caught by Leo who then caught the thug and made sure he was standing before punching him hard across the face, which launched him over the other counter. Three down. One left. And Leo had the honours. The lone Purple Dragon nervously picked up a cleaver, but made no move as Leo approached him. When Leo was within distance, he swung the cleaver at him, but Leo responded by smacking the cleaver out his hand before punching him uppercut style, which launched him up and over the counter and landed where the entrance/exit was. Leo leaned over and debated on whether or not to end the fight, Raph and Casey certainly did. By the entrance, the thug could see they were hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched. He didn't want to fight anymore, and Leo saw this.

"You lose. Now get out of here." Leo ordered and much to Raph and Casey's disappointment, the Purple Dragon listened as he stood up and as the other three Purple Dragons stood up and limped out of the restaurant, he too left, but not before declaring,

"This ain't over, greeny!" he said before running out.

"-_-"

"…"

"Greeny? Really? That's the best he could come up with?" Donnie said but Raph just largely ignored him and went over to Leo,

"You just let them go?" he said to Leo,

"Man, it was fun while it lasted." Casey complained.

"They weren't exactly a threat. They had enough." Leo explained but Casey complained,

"What? They attacked a blind man!" he said and Raph supported the claim,

"Yeah! There is no 'enough'! Now all the Purple Dragons will think that we're wimps who don't have the guts to finish the job." Raph said as he scowled at Leo, though from the other side of the restaurant, Donnie, Mikey and Angel silently agreed with Leo. Donnie then remembered that Angel was here,

"So, Angel? Did Casey rope you into this vigilante gig?" Donnie asked and before she answered, Angel took off the hockey mask,

"Sort of. I just thought it was better beating up Purple Dragons rather than being one." She answered and then at that moment, April had re-entered the restaurant with a largely unharmed Mr Murakami. During the chaos, she led Mr Murakami out of the restaurant and waited until the chaos inside had died down.

"Wow! That was great you guys!" April said as she led Mr Murakami to one of the counter's stools and he sat on it. Donnie, beamed at April as she complimented them,

"Thanks, April! Did you see that one thing where I kicked the guy and launched him over the counter? Didn't that look cool? Hehe… I thought I looked cool." Donnie said as he grinned from ear to ear with excitement,

"The coolest!" April said. Though she lied, and Donnie knew it. Disappointment replaced his growing ego.

"You didn't see it, did ya?" Donnie said.

"No, I did not." April replied, after which Mr Murakami spoke up,

"My friends. I am indebted to you. Please, allow me to make you all a meal, free of charge." Mr Murakami offered. A free meal for each of them? That was a definite yes.

"I think we can allow that." Raph said with a hint of sarcasm. April had initially planned to pay for the meals anyway but now that it was free, she now didn't have to worry about emptying her wallet.

"What is your favourite dish?" Mr Murakami asked,

"PIZZA!" the four turtles said at the same time.

9:12pm…

The four mutant turtles, the two human vigilantes and April all sat on separate stools at the counters and watched in amazement as Mr Murakami, a blind chef, easily handled all seven of their orders like it was an everyday thing for him. He cooked, chopped, sliced, seasoned and cooked some more.

"Murakami-san, that was awesome!" Donnie complimented and Mikey reinforced this claim,

"You're like a ninja, but for food!" Mikey said and it was true. Mr Murakami DID look like a ninja doing what he was doing. Soon however, the seven orders were done. April got a bowl of chicken noodle ramen, Casey got a Japanese okonomiyaki (a Japanese pancake), Angel got some sushi while the turtles all got…

"Pizza gyoza!" Mr Murakami announced as he handed each of the turtles the dish which each had 9 dumplings, which gave April a face of both grimace and confusion,

"Pizza gyoza?" although her confusion in repeated the name of the dish was out loud, it didn't stop Murakami from being hopeful about this new dish. The four turtles looked on at the dish and after a few seconds of internal debate, they thought that since they asked for it, they may as well try it. They picked up a single pizza gyoza from each of their plates with their chopsticks and placed them in their mouths.

Next description of their faces when they did this? Their faces lit up light Christmas trees, smiles all around as the flavours of the single dumpling elevated their taste buds to new heights of deliciousness.

"It's like a got a one-way ticket to Flavour Ville!" Donnie commented,

"Dude, pizza does go with everything!" Mikey said,

"This is really good!" Leo commented,

"Delicious!" Raph said,

The turtle's comments filled Murakami with joy. He was initially fine with his restaurant being quiet most of the time, however he was more than happy to know that his newest dish had the potential to really bring in more customers. The three humans also dup in to their own food as the turtles ate and also commented on how nice the food was. As Leo finished eating another dumpling, he turned to Murakami,

"Murakami-san, do the Purple Dragons come here a lot?" he asked and then upon answering him, Murakami suddenly looked worried, and let out a sigh.

"Yes. They demand money, or my shop as a new hangout. But I refuse both. My business is suffering because of them." Mr Murakami explained and Casey supported this,

"It's not just you, dude. A lot of local businesses are suffering because of them." Casey said,

"I was lucky when you seven showed up when you did. I don't think I would have walked out of my restaurant alive otherwise. Though I don't know how long my luck will last." Murakami said as he looked less than hopeful. He was saved tonight but how long will that last?

"Well they probably wouldn't be back if someone hadn't wimped out." Raph said as he referred to Leo. Leo then closed his eyes for a moment, but it was only that one moment that gave Mikey enough time to steal the rest of Leo dumplings form his plate and eat them. Leo shot Mikey a glare but Mikey just laughed him off.

9:25pm… Purple Dragon Base…

When giving information to someone, be sure that the same someone isn't trying to weasel out information you don't want them to have, and also be sure to say the right things as well. Someone should've told this one Purple Dragon that when he talked to Xever, Bradford and Hun about his and three other thug's experiences at Murakami's. Definitely DO NOT say you'll give them information for a price. Apparently, that is demanding too much. When this one Purple Dragon said,

"We saw those turtles again. And I'll tell you where… for a price- "the moment he said for a price, Hun grabbed him by his face with a single hand and picked him up off the ground, though he made sure not to cover his mouth.

"No-one asks for a price here. If we want information, we get it." Hun said in a cold tone as the Purple Dragon started to struggle to get out. "Now tell us. Where did you see the turtle freaks?" Hun applied pressure to the thug's head and in response, the pain caused the thug to scream a little which attracted the attention of the dozen or so Purple Dragons inside the base, including the ones who were also at Murakami's. "I will keep adding pressure to your face if you keep screaming." Hun said and then applied a little more pressure to emphasis his point, which didn't just make the thug scream in pain, it also drew blood from his nose and parts of his head. The blood covered Hun's hand and dripped to the ground. Eventually, the Purple Dragon stopped screaming and ranted the information.

"The noodle restaurant! Murakami's! In the East Village!" the thug quickly ranted out, which gave Hun a smirk that was borderline sadistic.

"Good. Now you get to rest…" Hun lessened the pressure and giving the thug a sigh of relief, "… in peace." Instant pressure was applied and the thug didn't even get the chance to scream since the pain was instantaneous and _*CRACK* *CRACK* *CRACK* *SQUISH*._ Hun released the thug. The other Purple Dragons looked on as their now horribly disfigured comrade was dropped and landed on the floor like a sack of potatoes, dead. His face covered in blood, and his crushed skull made him almost unrecognisable. The other three Purple Dragon who were also at Murakami's all paled when they saw this happen to their comrade, while the other thugs in the base simply shrugged it off. Xever and Bradford looked stoic with the former sporting a grin after. Hun simply turned to the other thugs,

"Now can someone get rid of this piece of garbage?" he said, to which two thugs approached the now dead thug and dragged him away by the limp arms and out of sight.

"So, regarding this new information…" Bradford started nonchalantly, "… how are you going to make sure that the turtles don't escape with this plan that I think you are thinking now?" Bradford asked.

"Easy. We use leverage to make sure they don't escape empty handed. If it goes wrong, we drop the leverage. Literally. Of course, just making sure they fail is only part of the plan." Xever said sadistically and with that, Hun, Xever and Bradford left the building. Though the three Purple Dragons who were at Murakami's were left with pale faces and began to wonder if signing up with Hun and the Purple Dragons was a good decision or a _really_ terrible life choice.

10:14pm… The Lair…

"MIKEY! YOU ARE SO GONNA IT!" Raph yelled as he stormed out of the bathroom with what looked like white toothpaste on the back of his thighs and the bottom of his shell. From across the Lair on the couch, Mikey bounced up from where he sat (from reading a comic) with a cheeky grin on his face,

"Well, that's my cue to skadoo!" Mikey said to no-one in particular. Wondering what Raph was shouting about, Donnie stopped in whatever in was he was working on (walls of scrap steel for his workplace/ lab) and looked over at an angry Raph racing across the Lair after a screaming Mikey, and Leo did the same as he exited his room from above to look down at the commotion below. Splinter however just let this play out and let his sons work things out as he simply resumed his meditation from within his room (he began thinking about asking Donnie to make his room soundproof in order to make meditation easier). After a few laps of screaming and racing around the Lair, Raph was all the while closing the gap between him and Mikey, and was intending to even the score. It was then that Leo decided that he should intervene. Raph was just about to pounce on Mikey when all of the sudden he stopped as he was now face to face with Leo, arms crossed and his face on leader mode. Raph looked beyond annoyed.

"Leo! Out of my way!" Raph demanded but Leo didn't budge,

"Not until you tell you tell me what's going on." Leo ordered and Mikey just giggled as he knew Raph was going to answer,

"Mikey placed toothpaste on the toilet seat. And because both were white, I didn't notice until I felt it!" at this, Mikey bellowed out a loud laugh and from across the Lair, Donnie stifled a chuckle and covered his mouth that formed an obvious smile.

"Aaand… how do you it was Mikey?" Leo asked to which Raph loudly answered,

"BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS MIKEY! And besides, he was the one to use the bathroom before me." Raph explained as he tried to shove his way past Leo but was stopped in his tracks by said brother.

"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Leo practically ordered, but even though was literally doing this in Raph's ear, Raph was having none of it,

"WHICH IS WHY I'M GONNA CLEAN THE TOILET WITH YOUR FACE!" Raph yelled out at Mikey and tried to put more force into shoving Leo back but Leo shoved back,

"Enough Raph!" but this just angered Raph,

"Don't take sides with him, Leo!" Raph shouted but Leo was prepared for this,

"I'm not, Raph. You still need to clean yourself up. You've still got toothpaste all over your legs and your shell." Embarrassment flooded Raph when Leo said this. He knew he had his thighs covered in toothpaste but forgot about it when he was chasing Mikey about. It dawned on him now that he was racing around the Lair with white toothpaste covering his thighs. Raph went beet red with embarrassment and lessened his pushing strength against Leo until he stopped completely. He reluctantly turned around to the bathroom and began to walk to it, with Mikey quietly giggling in the background, making Raph feel slightly undignified and his face turned into a massive scowl as he entered the bathroom.

7 minutes later…

Raph had just cleaned himself off the toothpaste and did what he had initially intended to do in the bathroom before. Though using the toothpaste for its intended purpose made Raph want to throw Mikey across the Lair even more. He exited the bathroom and was instantly face to face with Leo again. Raph frowned,

"What do you want, Fearless?" Raph said with a frown, knowing that Leo wasn't waiting to use the bathroom next, though Leo remained almost stoic,

"Just letting you know that Mikey has turned in for the night. I suggest that you do the same as well." Leo said in his leader mode which just served to annoy Raph even further,

"I just said earlier to take sides with him!" Raph said as he raised his voice again but Leo remained calm and composed,

"I'm not, Raph. But you will need a good night's rest for tomorrows sparring session with Mikey." The mention of sparring with Mikey seemed to lighten Raph's mood. Even though there would be rules and restrictions, Raph would still get the opportunity to kick Mikey's butt and even the score. The thought made Raph grin.

"Fine. But all your doing is making me fired up until then." Raph said as he moved past Leo and headed to him room to sleep on his thoughts, with a smirk on his face that bordered on anticipation and satisfaction.

8:46am… May 30th… The Lair…

Donnie had a habit of not getting much sleep thanks to himself working on his projects, this latest one was no exception. It was because of this that he momentarily forgot how Mikey pranked Raph last night and why he was instantly reminded of it when Mikey walked out of his match with Raph with a comically large bump on his head. Leo liked to make sure that himself and his brothers were on equal footing with each other, so when one would score one up on the other (mainly through pranks), Leo would be sure the victim of the prank (mainly Raph) will get the chance to even the score. Which is why he didn't protest Raph giving Mikey one heck of punch to the head during their sparring match. Next up was Leo vs Donnie, and even though Donnie improving ever so slightly, he was still no match for Leo. So, when Donnie was knocked over onto the floor on his shell, with Leo standing victorious, Raph snickered and then said,

"Okay Leo, I think he's had enough. I think you gotta let him go!" Raph said with sarcasm as he refenced last night at Murakami's, and Leo knew this and turned to Raph who stood next to a sitting Mikey 9the bump on his head gone).

"I get it. You're making fun of me for not pummelling a beaten opponent." Leo said to which Raph replied almost nonchalantly,

"Yes, I am. You showed weakness last night. Those criminals only understand one language." Raph said but Mikey didn't get what Raph was saying,

"Chinese?" at this, Raph squatted down at Mikey and locked eyes with him,

"No! Violence!" Raph corrected, this made Donnie and Leo grimace as they knew what Raph was talking about and Splinter frowned at this one-dimensional way of thinking, "We can't go soft on these criminals!" Raph growled out but at this, Splinter intervened,

"To show mercy and compassion isn't soft, Raphael. It is a sign of true strength." Splinter said. Leo was paying attention to his words, not just because he knew about it but also because that his Sensei approved of mercy and was supporting Leo's decision from last night. Raph however wasn't learning as Leo was,

"But Sensei, they're criminals. This is war!" Raph said but as always, Splinter has words of wisdom to say,

"A daimyo of the 16th century once said, 'In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war. In times of war, never forget compassion'." Master Splinter said. Leo and Donnie were taking in his words, Raph however…

"I'm guessing that guy must've lost a lot of wars." Raph said and then to prove him wrong, Splinter dashed from where he was in the blink of an eye and was directly on front of Raph with his cane pointed at his face. Raph didn't even get the chance to react but Splinter didn't follow through with an attack,

"You see? Mercy." Splinter said and then moved the cane away from Raph's face and then lightly hit Raph's shoulder with it.

"OW! Okay, compassion is great. But the Purple Dragons don't know the meaning of the word." Raph said but Splinter once again corrected his way of thinking,

"Everybody knows compassion when it is shown to them. A lack of compassion will eventually make the victim of it, turn away and fight them, or help the ones they thought to be enemies." Raph didn't really understand what Splinter was saying, Mikey tried his best to pay attention (which was not his strong suit) while Leo and Donnie were very much attentive. At this time though, morning practise was over and the turtles dispersed after they all bowed to Master Splinter.

7:33pm… Murakami's…

Always know when something is wrong with a building if it should be closed but the doors are open with no-one inside. Such as the case with Murakami's. And rightly so. Earlier on, April visited the restaurant to taste some Pizza Gyoza that her mutant friends said was delicious. But when she arrived, the door was busted open and Murakami was gone. She looked around for a bit and saw a note pinned to the wall with a knife. The note was to the turtles. It was nearly twenty minutes later when the four ninja turtles arrived at Murakami's.

"April, what's wrong?" Leo asked as he and his brothers both looked concerned and ready for anything.

"It's Murakami." April said with concern and then led the four inside the restaurant to where the note was.

"Someone took him and left this." She pointed to the note that was still on the wall, with the knife holding it up. But…

"Sweet! Free knife!" Mikey said as if they won a prize but Donnie corrected him,

"The note, dummy."

Donnie took the note from the wall, tearing it slightly as the knife sliced into it.

" _No more hiding. We have your friend. If you want him alive, meet us on the roof of the Fortune Cookie Factory."_ Donnie said as he read the note out loud which caused his brothers to take on faces of concern. Except for Raph who just looked like he wanted to pummel anyone who was his opponent,

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry over there and save Murakami!" Raph said but Leo protested against this approach,

"Not so fast. Think, Raphael." Leo said to which Donnie jokingly said,

"There's two words that don't usually go together!"

"This is obviously a trap." Leo said but Raph wanted to rush in,

"Well, what choice do we have?" Raph asked and Leo had a plan in mind,

"Guys, there are many ways this can go. Now listen, this is what we're gonna do…" Leo said and his brothers plus April turned their attentions to him to listen to the plan of action.

7:55pm… Fortune Cookie Factory… Ground level…

The turtles and April had just rounded the corner to the factory when they spotted Murakami tied up with a rope and left dangling off the side of the building's roof, with a Foot Ninja guarding him alongside one of the Purple Dragons that tried to assault Murakami previously.

"The Foot? What are they doing here?" Donnie asked.

"The Purple Dragon's must be in league with the Foot." Leo said,

"But why? The Foot are more dangerous and more organised than the Purple Dragons." It was upon saying his own words that Donnie realised what this meant, "Wait… that's probably it…"

"Regardless of why or how, it doesn't change the plan much. April, you know what to do." Leo said to April and she nodded in agreement.

"Right. Wait for you guys to bring Murakami here and then I get him to safety." April said as she understood her part of the plan,

"Okay, and everyone know what to do next?" at this, Leo's brothers nodded in understanding. Though Leo had his doubts if Mikey really knew what to do, "Mikey?"

"Yes." Was Mikey's response to Leo regarding about knowing the plan but Leo remained sceptical,

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what it is?" Leo said and at this, Mikey began to think hard over what the plan was. But his thoughts were always on pizza, cute cats, future pranks, games, comics, comic book characters until eventually…

"…uurrm… maybe we should go over it one more time?" Mikey asked rather sheepishly.

8:29pm… Fortune Cookie Factory… Roof…

When someone walks into a trap unprepared, they are just asking to get hurt or worse. When someone walks into a trap with a plan in mind, the person who springs the trap will most likely not succeed. In this case, Leo, Raph and Donnie appeared on the roof of the factory. Directly in the sight of the Foot Ninja and the three Purple Dragons who were also present. However, Mikey was nowhere to be seen, and their enemies either didn't notice or didn't care.

"We're here! Now let the noodle man go." Leo demanded and in response, the Foot ninja that was guarding Murakami, turned to face his prisoner. But it wasn't with the intention of bringing Murakami to safety, instead he threw a shuriken at the rope that was holding Murakami up. The shuriken sliced through the rope with ease. With nothing holding him up now, Murakami yelped in fear and surprise as he began a very long drop to the ground.

"NO!" the three turtles shouted and uselessly ran and reached for Murakami as it seemed that their rescue plan was about to end with Murakami dead, but a flash of green and orange, and the sound of chains a split second later and Murakami stopped falling. Mikey had done as he was instructed and hid in the shadows of the building's fire escape, right next to where Murakami was tied up and dangling. The original idea was for Leo, Donnie and Raph to distract all the enemies on the roof while Mikey quietly levered Murakami onto the fire escape, cut him free of the ropes and get him to April down below where she would get him to safety. But when Murakami was cut loose and began falling, Mikey had a split second to react, and react he did. He jumped from the fire escape and straight towards Murakami and at the same time, he hooked his kusarigama chain to one of the railings of the fire escape, he caught Murakami by the ropes that tied him and with Murakami in one hand while his other gripped the kusarigama chain, Mikey stopped Murakami's fall and saved him from falling to his death. Leo, Raph and Donnie breathed happy sighs of relief as they saw Mikey using more of the chain to lower himself and Murakami gently to the ground.

"Nice save, Mikey!" Leo complimented and then he and Raph and Donnie turned their attention back to the three Purple Dragons and the Foot Ninja.

"Don't look down, Murakami-san." Mikey said as he lowered himself and Murakami to the ground and then instantly realised that he just what he said to a blind man, "… I mean… listen down? I guess?" Murakami gently smiled at this and then, the sounds of the other three turtles fighting their enemies reached their ears.

As the three turtles on the roof stared down their enemies, the Foot Ninja raised his hand into the air. Leo knew what this was. It was a signal, and as soon as the Foot Ninja used it, ten more Foot ninja jumped out of the darkness of the alley below and onto the roof, with their weapons drawn. Leo, Raph and Donnie also drew out their weapons and the three ninja turtles charged to meet the eleven Foot ninjas and three Purple Dragons in battle.

Raph met against three Foot ninja and two of the Purple Dragons, he jumped against a wall and then bounced off it as one ninja tried and failed to slash him with his katana, Raph attacked another ninja that was coming at him by launching his knee into the ninja's face and knocked him out. He then had to duck and roll away as one of the Purple Dragons swung a pipe at his head, and he stood he launched a strong double side kick to the first ninja, and knocked him onto his back, the Purple Dragon came at Raph again with the pipe, and Raph blocked the pipe swing with his sai and superior strength and countered by hitting the thug in the face twice with the hilts of his twin sai. He then jumped up onto the ledge of a large advertisement board where Leo currently was as he was fighting two ninjas on both of his sides. Raph reached and grabbed one ninja from behind and threw him off the advertisement board and Leo was then easily able to overpower the other Foot ninja by disarming him of his twin knifes and launching a jump round kick to the ninja's jaw and knocked him off the board. Raph then had to duck and roll back and Leo quickly swung his twin katana as a Foot Ninja threw eight kunai at them simultaneously. Their manoeuvres worked as Raph evaded the knifes and Leo deflected the others.

Donnie meanwhile faced off against two ninjas, but he wasn't worried, taking his previous lesson in fighting Dr Falco, he didn't think as attacked the two ninjas, one ninja attacked Donnie with a pair of sickles, but Donnie raised his steel staff upwards and blocked the two weapons and countered by hitting the ninja in the abdomen with a front kick and then smacking him on the head with a swing of his steel staff which knocked him to the edge of the roof. He then turned his attention to the other ninja who had just begun his attack on Donnie, but he responded by doing a quick spin of his staff before whacking the ninja in the ribs with another swing of his steel staff, the ninja was knocked onto the ground, the pain in his ribs stopping him from getting up.

Whilst all this was going on, Mikey had just finished lowering Murakami safely. Murakami was on his feet and Mikey unhooked his chain and stood next to Murakami. He used the hook from his kusarigama chain to cut the ropes which resulted in Murakami being free.

"Are you alright, Mr Murakami?" Mikey asked,

"I am fine, thank you." Murakami answered and with that, Mikey led the blind chef across the street to where April stood at the opposite corner.

"Okay April, you know what to do." Mikey said to April and she nodded in agreement but before she left,

"Yeah, I know. I've also given Casey and Angel a ring. They should be at the restaurant now." April said, and Mikey was happy to hear this,

"Cool! Extra bodyguards! Good thinking, girl!" Mikey commented, earning a smile from April and with that, she began to lead Murakami away from the action and towards the safety of his restaurant.

Back on the roof…

When the chaos on the roof started, it was three ninja turtles versus fourteen enemies. When Mikey got Murakami to safety, the number of enemies standing included three Foot ninjas and two Purple Dragons.

 _*BASH*_

Correction: one Purple Dragon left as Raph just rendered one of them unconscious with a very strong punch to the face. It was at this point that it would be understandable if the one remaining Purple Dragon would be nervous. And he was. He wielded a single meat cleaver, but after seeing the remaining three Foot Ninjas struggle against the three ninja turtles, getting clobbered was looking to be a more likely scenario. He charged at Leo nonetheless, which was a big mistake as he and his two brothers pushed back the Foot Ninja and as soon as the thug was within distance, his attack was nulled as Leo simply hit him over the head with the hilt of his katana. He had the opportunity mortally wound the thug with the blade but didn't use it and when said thug was knocked onto his back, Leo pointed the blade of his katana at the downed Purple Dragon. The thug looked at it and wondered if this was going to be his last night alive. But Leo took the opposite and pointed the katana away from the Purple Dragon, confusing him. If it were Hun pointing that blade at him, he was sure he was going to be either skewered or decapitated on the spot, but no. Leo turned his attention to the three remaining Foot Ninjas just as Raph and Donnie were doing. Though he was late as Donnie had just finished disarming his one opponent of his kusarigama chain and knocked him out with a swift of his steel staff to the ninja's head, whilst Raph had just bashed the other two ninjas with strong blows to their midsections and their heads. Raph had just proved that he can make sure that his opponents can't get up for a while.

"Well… that went well." Leo said but Raph felt the need to point out the difference in what happened to what Leo had in mind,

"Yeah good. Except for the part where they tried to _kill_ Mr Murakami when we got here." Raph said, understandably angry that Leo didn't think they would do that. He knew he was going to get a lecture from Splinter when he told him that part. He was lucky that Mikey acted the way he did. Leo was silent for a few seconds but spoke again,

"Okay… yeah that didn't go as I'd thought… but all's well that ends well." Leo said and although Raph silently agreed, Donnie voiced it,

"True. Now we need to check up on Murakami." Donnie said.

"Aaww, dudes…" suddenly, Mikey's voice rang out on the roof as he then appeared on the roof in hopes of joining his brothers but his brothers had already taken down their foes, "You guys partied without me?" Mikey said as he pouted,

"Well… you were taking too long and we had guests to smash and crash up!" Raph replied as he grinned at Mikey who kept pouting,

"Never mind that, Mikey. What about Murakami? Is he safe?" Leo asked and at this, Mikey stopped pouting and smiled his brilliant smile,

"Dude, it was me helping him! Of course, he's safe! He should be back at the restaurant with April by now." It was then that Mikey was reminded of something important, "Dudes, I just thought of something."

"That's a scary thought." Donnie suddenly said out loud, earning a snicker from Raph and a repressed smile from Leo, but Mikey ignored them,

"To the bro's go the spoils!" Mikey said which made his brothers stare at him blankly until,

"Oh, you mean 'To the _victor_ goes the spoils', Mikey." Donnie corrected,

"Whatever." Mikey shrugged him off,

"Anyway, we should check up on Murakami. Who knows, the 'spoils' may be some of that pizza gyoza." Leo said and at the mention of that delicious pizza gyoza, all four of the ninja turtles drooled and dazed at the thought chowing on more of that exquisite food.

As they left, the one remaining Purple Dragon, though beaten and bruised, stared after them and went to his two downed comrades. They would have to discuss their next move carefully now.

8:40pm… Murakami's…

When the turtles arrived at Murakami's, they saw April, Casey and Angel waiting for them, while Murakami had just approached them with a large brown paper bag, with a grateful smile on his face,

"Allow me to express my gratitude. Pizza Gyoza!" Murakami said as he handed the bag out, and Donnie took hold of it,

"Awesome! Thanks, Murakami-san!" Donnie said but then Murakami's next words caught everyone in the room off guard,

"You're welcome, turtle-san." The turtles, April, Casey and Angel looked dumbfounded at Murakami and after a few seconds of some of their mouths hanging agape,

"Wait… how… did you…?" was about all Donnie could manage and Murakami answered, still smiling,

"I do have my other senses. Touch. Smell. Hearing." The turtles all looked at each other in amazement and bewilderment,

"You don't think we're weird and scary?" Leo asked,

"You saved my life! Who am I to complain?" Murakami answered which earned him a hug from a smiling Mikey and Murakami also smiled at the gesture.

9:01pm… New York City Rooftops…

Before they left Murakami's, Donnie handed April the bag of pizza gyoza and asked her to take back to the Lair. They had gotten to the rooftops to start their patrol when…

 _*TMNT theme phone rings*_

It was Raph's T-phone and it was coming from Casey.

"Casey, what's up?" Raph asked,

"Well, feel free to either believe this or don't."

Earlier… at Murakami's…

April had just left Murakami's holding the of pizza gyoza, leaving Casey and Angel alone with Murakami. The two had agreed with April that they should stay behind and be Murakami's bodyguards for the night, until he officially closed the restaurant for the night. Just moments after April left the restaurant, Angel spotted three familiar figures approaching from outside the window. It was the same three Purple dragons that tried to harass Murakami some time before, though now they were looking a bit bruised from their encounter with the turtles.

"Casey! Mask on! It's the Purple Dragons again!" Angel announced, which gave Murakami enough reason to hide in the kitchen pantry behind the restaurant. Casey placed his mask on and armed himself with his hockey stick and a baseball bat. Angel had studded gloves on, which she also readied for. The Purple Dragons entered and upon entering, Casey and Angel attacked, the attack didn't surprise the Purple Dragons much as they kind of expected it, but…

"WAIT! WAIT! STOP! WE'RE NOT HERE TO FIGHT!" one of the Purple Dragons quickly yelped out, causing the two young vigilante's to halt their attack, but still kept their guard up.

"Well, that's different." Casey commented as he pointed his hockey stick at the thugs, who were holding their hands up as if to say, 'We surrender'.

"Talk then! Or you're getting a beatdown!" Angel announced,

"We got info your turtle friends can use!" the Purple Dragon said which caused Casey and Angel to look at each other in confusion. "It's true!" one of the other Purple Dragon's said.

Present time… on the rooftops…

The turtles were being followed by the Foot. The aim was to determine were the lair was so the Foot could launch an all-out assault on their home. Murakami was a hostage just to lure them out, whether he lived or died was irrelevant to the Foot. The aim to follow their every move after they left the Fortune Cookie Factory. They got this info from of the same Purple Dragons they beat down earlier.

"You do you think, Leo? Can we trust this information?" Donnie asked,

"I don't know. But if we are being followed, then we take precautions. We take the opposite route from home and then ambush them from the shadows." Leo ordered and everyone nodded their heads in understanding.

9:07pm… The Sewers…

Taking no chances of if they were being followed or not, the turtles jumped from the building roof they were on and entered the sewers from the nearest manhole cover. From then on, they waited in the many shadows that the sewer tunnels provided. They didn't have to wait long as the sound of the manhole cover opening had reached their ears along with the sight of several Foot Ninja, Bradford and someone they don't know entering the sewers. The other man that they saw had Mexican features, punkish clothing, a small black afro hairstyle and a distinct Purple Dragon tattoo on his right arm. Bradford and Xever grimaced upon landing in the sewers and commented,

"This place is disgusting! But at least it's somewhat bearable." Bradford commented and with that he, Xever and the other Foot Ninja proceeded onward, slowly as they had no know idea where the turtles had gone off to.

From the back of the group, one Foot Ninja was suddenly grabbed and pulled into one of the tunnels without so much as a peep. No-one noticed.

The group proceeded, not noticing the ninja's disappearance. Two Foot Ninja had just walked next to opposing tunnels when from one tunnel, Mikey grabbed and pulled one of them into it and before the other ninja could react, he too was pulled into the opposing tunnel by Donnie. Two more taken out, and the others didn't notice.

Just Bradford, the Purple Dragon and three Foot Ninjas remained as they entered a large sewer junction with a very deep waste disposal section in the middle. Other than that, the junction led to nowhere. From above, Leo lassoed one of the ninjas with some rope and yanked him up to the ceiling. Two ninjas left.

This time, Bradford felt something wasn't right, he looked behind him and noticed that several of his ninjas were gone and silently let Xever know of this. Bradford motioned for him and Xever to turn and separate from the other two Foot ninjas to try and cover more ground. This backfired as the two ninjas were silently taken down into the shadows by Raph and Donnie. Now alone, Xever pulled out a flare stick and clicked it. The flare stick glowed red and illuminated the dark sewer junction and it only revealed all of the Foot Ninja that were with them, strung up on the ceiling and knocked out. But no turtle ninjas in sight.

"Show your faces!" Xever said as he raised his voice in a defiant tone. It was probably the only request from the Foot that the turtles would listen to as they stepped out of the shadows with their weapons drawn and ready to fight. Leo and Raph stepped from the shadows where the Foot had entered from while Mikey and Donnie stepped out from within the junction.

"They knew we were following them?" Bradford said with confusion in his tone.

"There's no way!" Xever then said,

"Heh, we live with a Grandmaster of Ninjitsu, you guys aren't nearly as quiet as he is!" Leo said and it wasn't a total lie but he wasn't going to reveal that they had been tipped off. Bradford took a glance at Xever then gave the order,

"Take 'em down!" he ordered and Bradford charged at Leo and Raph while Xever discarded the flare stick and ran at Donnie and Mikey.

Bradford engaged Leo and Raph in combat with his katana drawn. He swung at Raph, who responded by leaping back a bit, Leo then attacked Bradford from behind by jumping into the air and swinging his twin katana down at his head, while Raph attacked from the front at the same time. Bradford countered this manoeuvre by grabbing Raph's wrists as he came in for the attack and swung him around like a rag-doll and into Leo. The turtles were flung away but landed safely on their feet.

Meanwhile, Donnie was having trouble keeping up with what he thought would be a useless thug. Xever was proving to be anything but useless in a fight. Xever launched a series of kicks at Donnie's head whilst in a handstand, though blocked each kick with his steel staff. He then bounced up and over Donnie's head and landed behind him in a handstand and then grabbed Donnie's head with his legs and then threw him into Mikey who tried to run in to assist. The two turtles landed on the ground, while Xever flipped back onto his feet.

On the other side of the junction, Raph had just been kicked onto his back a few feet away from where he stood. Bradford approached the downed turtle and as he did so, Leo attacked from behind again by jumping into the air and swinging his twin katana down at Bradford. But Bradford heard the sound the katana made as it swung and raised his own katana up to block Leo's attack and then countered by back-kicking Leo's midsection. Leo was launched across and landed on his plastron and Raph rushed to his side. From the other side, Leo and Raph could see that their two brothers weren't doing much better and then Leo stood up and snapped his fingers, he then motioned for each pair to switch opponents. Leo and Raph then charged at Bradford and faked an attack, which made Bradford attack incorrectly and the two turtles slipped past him.

Likewise, Donnie and Mikey also faked an attack on Xever, who responded incorrectly with a counter attack that wasn't going to work, and Doonie and Mikey also slipped past him. The two brothers ran towards their other two brothers with Bradford and Xever behind them, and as soon as they came together, they separated instantly, but the switch was made. On one side of the sewer junction was Donnie and Mikey vs Bradford while on the other side was Leo and Raph vs Xever.

Bradford attacked Mikey first with front kick. Mikey dashed to one side and dodged however, and Bradford instead hit the wall that was behind Mikey. Mikey then countered by attacking Bradford a split second as he was putting his foot down. He attacked the other leg with one of his nunchucks and Bradford fell onto one knee and then Donnie followed up by hitting Bradford in the face with his steel staff. The result was Bradford being knocked onto his back.

Meanwhile, Xever was doing numerous backflips away from Leo and Raph as they swung their weapons at him furiously, but also without accidently hitting each other. Xever was doing bacflips so much that he lost his concentration for a second, as he didn't notice Raph rushing towards him and didn't notice until Raph used a leg sweep as Xever was bouncing with flips, the sweep connected with Xevers arms and before he could hit the ground, Leo followed up with a flying side kick straight into Xever's chest and sent him flying to where Bradford was currently getting up. The two enemies were too slow in getting up which gave Leo enough time to carry out the final part of his plan,

"Donnie, NOW!" Leo shouted, from across the junction, Donnie had quickly made his way over to a valve and when he turned it, he activated a rush of sewer water that came down from the tunnel they all entered through and it just so happened that Bradford and Xever were directly in the path of the rushing sewage. They could only have a second to realise what was happening before the rushing sewer water crashed into them and pushed them from where they were and into the deep hole that was a sewage disposal.

The four turtles looked on as their enemies for the night were washed down a very deep hole,

"Well, that didn't seem merciful, now did it, Leo?" Raph said as he grinned at the sight below, with Mikey smiling alongside him,

"There's a time and place for everything, Raph. But yeah, mercy wasn't going to cut it this time around!" Leo said and all four brothers let out slight chuckles,

"High three!" Mikey shouted and all four turtles gave each other a high three.

9:29pm… The Lair…

It was smiles all around the Lair as the four turtles returned home from their latest victory. Plus, the cherry on top for a success like tonight was the still warm pizza gyoza that April brought to the Lair a while ago. In no time at all, the four mutant turtles dived into the dumplings followed shortly by Splinter. Though April thought to let them eat as a family and not get involved. That is until Donnie offered her a dumpling,

"Come on, April, give it a try. Sometimes when two things don't go together actually make a great couple!" Donnie momentarily blushed and caught himself before correcting himself, "I-I mean food!" April silently giggled at this, but also agreed to Donnie's offer,

"Sure, Donnie." April then took the dumpling that Donnie offered to her with a pair of chopsticks. She puts it inside her mouth and chewed. Her taste bids lit up and thanked her for the delicious treat, "Woah! These are amazing!" April said, earning a bright smile from Donnie, the distinct gap in Donnie's teeth showing, which April momentarily thought was adorable, until she snatched Donnie's plate of pizza gyoza and began stuffing her face with the treats. Donnie's face fell a little as he wanted to eat more of the dumplings.

"You boys showed your strength today." Master Splinter said as he finished eating another pizza gyoza. He silently admitted it was one of the tastiest treats he's ever had.

"We sure did, Sensei. We kicked major butt!" Raph commented as he missed the meaning behind Splinter's words.

"Not what I meant, Raphael. Your strength was mercy. That was why thee Purple Dragons helped you." Splinter said which Leo felt the need to give Raph a 'I told you so' smile,

"So… say it!" Leo asked of Raph and he reluctantly admitted to Leo,

"Okay, okay… you were right." Raph said and Leo couldn't help but feel a little smug at this small victory over Raph,

"Ah see? That wasn't so- "

"Your wimpy-ness may not be totally useless!" Raph said with a sly/cheeky smile and Leo thought a little payback was in order for that retort,

"Oh, I'll show you wimpy…" Leo readied himself to pounce, "NO MERCY!" Leo pounced on Raph and the two began a friendly/brotherly wrestle, at the same time making their pizza gyoza fly off their plates. Mikey paled at the sight the tasty pizza gyoza getting ruined and reacted quickly by dashing to the falling treats and catching them on his plate before they hit the ground,

"SAFE!" Mikey announced as he held the plate full of pizza gyoza above his head as if it were a great achievement.

It was then at this point that Casey had entered the Lair through the elevator, when he entered he was greeted with the sight of Mikey holding a plate of food above his head, Donnie trying to stop April from stuffing her full of food and Leo trying to get out of a headlock from Raph, and Master Splinter sitting ever so calmly like nothing was out of the ordinary. The sight made him sweat-drop, but then remembered the next bit of news they might like to hear,

"Hey dudes. Listen, I've got news you might want to hear." When Casey this, he got their attention (sort of). April looked at him with her cheeks puffed out, Donnie attention was divided by Casey and April, Mikey then just held the plate of food normally and not above his head as he turned to Casey, Leo could only see the bottom part of Casey from the waist down as Raph held him in a headlock. Raph looked at Casey as he held his lock firmly and not letting Leo stand up straight,

"Yeah? Well what is it, Casey?" Raph asked as he grinned at Leo who struggled to get out of his grip,

"Okay so, you know that those Purple Dragons gave you that tip off?" Casey asked and all but Leo nodded in agreement who instead let out an "Uh huh."

"Well, you guys might be getting more tip off and information from now on." At this, Leo was finally able to stand up straight as Raph loosened his grip,

"How?" he asked,

"Turns out, that those three Purple Dragons are really scared of Hun now. They want to be as far away from him as possible." Casey explained and their faces demanded further explanation. Well, all but Mikey, who was more focused on his plate of food. April tried to look serious, but she still had her mouth full of food and as such, just looked silly. "Earlier, Hun killed one of his thugs in cold blood, just because he asked for a price for information on you guys." Casey said and then continued, "They now want to snitch on him and the Purple Dragons and the Foot if they can, and give info to you guys." Casey finished.

After a few moments, Splinter was the first to speak, "This has just confirmed that mercy can go a long way." Splinter said.

"So, what do you guys think?" Casey asked and after a few moments, Leo gave his answer,

"We'll think about it. I don't like the idea of using thugs." Leo said but was surprised when Splinter spoke up about this,

"Leonardo, it is understandable if you do not wish to take up their offer. But if they do indeed wish to become spies for you, then you have the opportunity to name your own terms and conditions. It is how you say, 'The ball is now in your court'." Master Splinter said and Leo began thinking about his words. After which everybody continued with munching on delicious treats.

10:00pm… Foot HQ….

The Shredder was patient from any angle. If he assigned his men to do a job, then he would wait for however long until news of their mission came to him. But it was also easy to break that patience with a failed mission as Stockman found out. Now however, a lone Foot soldier kneeled before him with news that Bradford and Xever had failed in their mission and their whereabouts were currently unknown. The Shredder dismissed the ninja and when he left, the Shredder was left sitting at his Japanese style table in the room, alone. If one would look at him, he would look like he was sitting alone, contemplating his next move. However, his occasional twitching and raised eyebrow(s), would make someone think he was listening to someone. But nobody else was there.

"Stockman has failed to wreck this city, and it is likely that whatever he does against our enemies will end in failure. Hun is too busy keeping the Purple Dragons in line. And Bradford and Xever are nowhere to be seen, probably hiding until they arrive back with can be considered good news. Karai and my other capable units are all in Japan. Yes, this is a problem that must be dealt with. Myself." The Shredder said to himself as he got up and walked to stop in front the glass casing containing his armour.

* * *

 **me: hey there! So as you can probably guess, the next chapter will feature the turtles vs the Shredder for the first time! Also see if they will get spies of their own. Until next time!**


	16. Ruthless

**me: hello readers! This chapter is a mixture of the 2012 episode 'The Gauntlet' and the 2003 episode 'The Shredder Strikes Part Two'. It also has my own unique twist. Enjoy!**

* * *

June 2nd… 2012… New York City… Foot HQ… 11:53am…

(Shredder POV)

It has been days since I sent Bradford and Xever to find the turtles hideout and with it, Hamato Yoshi and maybe the other Guardians. But since they have failed and haven't returned to me, I can only assume that they are either dead or cannot face me for the fear of death as a punishment. I will find and defeat the turtles myself and then after that, Hamato Yoshi and the other Guardians. I knew it would take me a while before they were found, I am even willing for this to take years if necessary. I have time.

At this time though, I came across some luck as one of my Foot soldiers entered my shrine atop my tower, no doubt with information I can use.

"Masutā, watashitachiha buraddofōdo to ekusubā o mitsukemashita. Karera wa genzai,-gai no Cheesebite kōjō ni iru." (Master, we have located Bradford and Xever. They are currently around the city's Cheesebite Factory.)

"Sugureta. Nokori no subete no yunitto o atsumete kudasai. Watashi wa kame ya Hamato Yoshi kokorozashi to wa nani no chansu mo toranai." (Excellent. Gather the rest of all available units. I do not want to take any chances with the turtles or Hamato Yoshi.) every time I speak, I will want what I say to be carried out.

"Hai, Masutā Shureddā." (Yes, Master Shredder) the Foot soldier replied and afterwards, he exited the shrine to carry out my orders.

"I am no fool. I will not confront those two. Only tail them. If the turtles have an objective, they will surely be found eventually by Bradford and Xever. When they do, I will be there to finish what they cannot."

" **Hehehe… so confident it will work, Saki. I wonder if you got that from me?"** another voice was in the room, but I wasn't fazed at the way it spoke to me. If anybody else spoke like that to me, they would surely lose their head.

"You have given me many things, Ch'rell. Your confidence was not one of them." I am well acquainted with Ch'rell. So well in fact that he is the only one who can speak however he likes to me. After all, we are two sides of the same coin.

" **Of course not. But need I remind you that the Utroms and the Guardians aren't the only thing in this city."** Ch'rell said. I am all too aware of what else is here in this city.

"I know. The Utroms and the Guardians are here because the Kraang are also here. Wherever there are Kraang, the Utroms and Guardians will not be far behind. It was the same in Tokyo." I replied, which made me think about Karai. I know that I can count on her to keep things going smoothly in Tokyo and also juggle fighting the Guardians and the Kraang. But that matters not to me.

" **I also care little for the Kraang. But they will prove useful to us later. For now, though…"** I knew Ch'rell's thoughts just like he knew mine.

"Yes. Hamato Yoshi and the Utroms and Guardians come first." And with that, I walked other to the glass casing containing the armour set. It was time once again.

4:14pm… Fish Market…

Locating Bradford and Xever was a simple task. Even with my metal armour on, I was till virtually undetectable as I hid in the shadows that the daylight provided. A real Master can scour the shadows in broad daylight and not be detected with little to no effort. Bradford wore his street clothes so as to not stick out from the crowd of people around him. Surely those two have realised that they can't evade me forever once I learned of their failure, if they haven't, then I will teach them through pain. I watched from afar, atop a rooftop building as those two simpletons bought dinner from a fish salesman down on the street below.

"That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen. Present company excluded." Bradford said to Xever as the latter fished out a… fish that I haven't bothered to learn anything about. Xever handed the fish over to the salesman for him to chop up.

"So, we have a problem." Bradford said.

"No, _you_ have a problem." Xever said back at Bradford,

"We've both failed Master Shredder. Don't you know what kind of punishment we'd receive from him from a failure like that without at least some good news to go with it? Don't you know what happened to Dr Stockman?" Bradford said. I knew that Xever knew what happened and he grimaced at the thought of me doing the same to him. He growled, mostly to himself,

"If I had the opportunity, I would crush those turtles like bugs!" Xever said and it was then that Bradford's phone rang in with a new message. No doubt from one of his unit members. Bradford flipped open his phone and read the message, which made him grin. "What is that?"

"Opportunity." He said and as their lunch was chopped up and presented to them in a bag, they left the market. But not before Bradford clumsily walked into a dog that he somehow didn't notice was right behind him. I thought I taught him better than that.

9:23pm… Wolf Hotel

It has been five hours. Five hours and the best those two could do was track the turtles to a hotel and then engage them after they had fought against the Kraang. The Kraang have built an enormous contraption of sorts on top of the hotel, most likely without anyone noticing. I would have engaged them myself but the actions the turtles were using had caused me to stop, and listen. I saw the turtle in the purple mask opened a panel at the bottom of the device, and he nearly paled.

"Uh oh." The purple masked turtle said,

"Uh oh? Donnie, you said you knew how to do this!" the blue masked turtle said in response, he was agitated.

"I didn't count on a design this complex, Leo." They are bickering during a mission. Amateurs.

"Th-They're aliens from another dimension! What did you expect? A big round ball with a lit fuse that said 'bomb'?" at the word 'bomb', I had really thought that Bradford and Xever would stop what they were doing. And upon closer inspection from where I was hiding, the bomb was filled with the Kraang's mutagen.

"No! But this is- "but then the purple masked turtle was interrupted by the turtle in red,

"Boy, I sure hope this argument goes on for another four minutes and fifteen seconds!" using sarcasm in the middle of a time ticking bomb and then hitting your companion during a mission? Definitely foolish.

But not as foolish as Bradford and Xever. I know they had heard that the device on the hotel roof is a bomb. As the turtles, particularly the one in purple, scrambled to try and figure out how to disable the bomb, Bradford and Xever revealed their presence on the roof. Those two morons. I would like nothing more than to destroy my enemies, but I would not be a victim of the Kraang or idiocy in the process. I would rather be alive to see my enemies suffer and die. The turtles split, the turtle in purple stayed by the contraption to try and disable it, while the other three turtles engaged Bradford and Xever.

(Normal POV)

Mikey launched the first attack on Xever, he launched himself forward with a hook punch to the head, but Xever countered by ducking underneath and then picking Mikey up wrestler style and then throwing him down onto the floor and then backflips away, with Leo in pursuit. When the two were close enough, Xever launched a round kick to Leo's head, who then blocks the kick,

"You guys picked a really bad time for this!" Leo said as he glared at Xever, and then pushed him back. Xever quickly regains his footing,

"Oh, sorry for the inconveinience. When would you prefer to breathe your last breath?" Xever responded and as he attacked with a jumping side kick, Leo blocked with the hilts of his twin katana.

"If that thing goes off, it'll wipe us all out!" Leo all but announced and from across the roof, while Bradford and Raph were trading blows, Bradford had enough time to respond to Leo's words,

"I would rather perish in battle, than return with nothing!" Bradford said and then swung down on Raph's head with his single katana, Raph responds by jumping back and bouncing off the roof's water tower and attacked with a knee thrust. The attack connects directly into Bradford's face, who holds it in response and was momentarily dazed. Raph then turned to Donnie who was still trying to figure out the bomb,

"Will you hurry up and defuse the bomb? We're dealing with a couple of nut-jobs here!" Raph shouted at Donnie as if it would hurry up his thinking but all it did was make Donnie snap at him,

"BE QUIET!" he snapped before going back to the device and then Raph and Bradford clashed again, katana to twin sai. And as Leo and Mikey attacked Xever on both sides, Xever responded with a split kick that hit both off them back. Leo regained his footing but Mikey fell onto his shell. Bradford broke the stalemate between him and Raph by using his free hand to grab Raph's head and then threw him across the roof. Raph slammed into a wall on the edge of the roof, shell first. He then had to quickly duck and rool out of the way as Xever came flying in with double front kick. Raph dodged and Xever hit the wall. Xever then bounced off the wall and continued his assault on Raph with a flurry of fluid kicks. Raph backed up and blocked each kick before he jumped and backflip up onto the top of the Kraang bomb. Xever gave chase.

During this, Mikey and Leo were fighting against Bradford. He was at a distance away at some point during the fight and decided to charge at Mikey with the force of a charging rhino. Mikey respond by flinging the kusarigama chain at him from where he stood, but his efforts only resulted in Bradford dodging each attack as he got closer and closer and then when Mikey withdrew the kusarigama chain extension back into his nunchucks to attack with them, Bradford rammed into Mikey with his shoulder which also rammed him into a steel pole behind him. Mikey momentarily had the wind knocked out of him. It only took Mikey a second to breathe again, just as Bradford started swinging his katana down at Mikey repeatedly. Mikey dodged to one side the first two times and the third time blocked the katana with his nunchucks, and Bradford then tried to overpower him. He didn't get a chance to as Leo jumped into the air and swung his katana down at Bradford's head. Bradford saw this coming however and quickly responded by turning to Leo and blocking his strike before swinging his katana and pushing Leo back.

Meanwhile, "Okay, down to two wires. Which one do I cut? Black? Or green?" Donnie said as he held a pair of wire cutters and sweating nervously. And why not? If he messed this up, he would set the bomb off early and kill everybody on the roof, in the building and a large portion of New York and killing tens of thousands of people in the process. From afar, Mikey heard Donnie's question and made the mistake of making a suggestion whilst he was fighting,

"Go for the green!" he said before getting a strong punch to his jaw from Bradford. Just a few more seconds and the bomb would kill everyone anyway.

"Eh, why not?" Donnie said almost defeatedly and hastily cut the green wire with cutters and to his surprise, the bomb became disabled. Donnie was surprised and relieved at the same time that he couldn't help but smile at this accomplishment.

"GUYS! Guys! Mikey… was right about something!" Donnie said before bringing his steel staff out and ran atop behind the building's giant neon name to help Leo and Mikey against Bradford and leapt high into the air, as he came down he bounced off Bradford's head and landed behind him. He then struck Bradford's shoulder with the steel staff before he raced off atop the now disabled bomb to help Raph against Xever.

As Raph fought against Xever, the glow that the mutagen inside the bomb glowed and illuminated the combatants, Xever was so busy concentrating on Raph that he didn't see Donnie approach from behind until Donnie hit him over the head with his steel staff. Dazed, Xever became helpless as Raph thrust his knee into Xever's gut. From then on, Raph and Donnie steadily pushed Xever back.

From the other end of the bomb, Leo and Mikey had taken control of the flow of the fight away from Braford. Case in point, Mikey had just smacked Bradford over the head with his two nunchucks, he then ducked down to allow Leo and his twin katana to charge at Bradford, who could only block the two swords with his single katana but was still being pushed back and losing ground.

Eventually though, Bradford and Xever were pushed back in such a way that the two were now back to back and because of the bomb's narrow area from which to fight on, they had run out of room.

"You are worthy adversaries. But the fight is ours. Lay down your weapons." Leo said in a comically heroic fashion and raph held back a groan as he knew that Leo got that line either from Space Heroes or was influenced by it.

"Never!" Xever said as he glared at the turtles in front of him. Bradford held his katana up in defiance.

"You don't have a choice. You've lost." Leo said but then Bradford did the stupidest action that he would regret quickly.

"If I'm going down…" he looked to the large bomb, he, Xever and the four turtles were standing right next to breakable glass that helped contain the mutagen. Bradford however didn't know that. "…I'm taking you with me!" he then stabbed the glass container with his sword and the reaction from the four turtles was immediate. The four backed away fast as the glass cracked and then smashed apart, spilling the mutagen contents all over Bradford and Xever and washing them off the platform. Without the mutagen, the bomb powered down completely. The four turtles jumped from the platform and landed on the hotel roof.

"So, to sum up; we kicked the butts of the Kraang and Shredder's top henchmen, while also defusing the bomb and saving the city." Leo said triumphantly and feeding off the overconfidence of his three brothers as they also did the same with each other.

"Yeah, we're not overconfident!" Raph said with a cocky grin.

"We're just that good." Leo said and with that the four turtles began to leave the roof, celebrating their victory early, but…

"Your skills are impressive." Another voice rang out on the roof, stopping the turtles in their tracks, the four ninja's turned their attention to the top of the water tower where the voice was coming and there they saw the nightmare that was the Shredder, in his full armour set. His announcement was followed by himself jumping off the water tower and landing on the hotel roof. "But they will not save you." The Shredder said in tone that meant he was here to kill. The four turtles looked on at the Shredder, to say their confidence turned into nervousness was an understatement.

"Oh man… do you think that's… The Shredder?" Donnie asked hesitantly and nervously,

"Well it's definitely _A_ Shredder!" Raph replied.

"I am not surprised that my enemies are in fact mutants. You are not the first creatures I have encountered. And you will not have been the first creatures I have killed." The Shredder said and at that he raised his hand as a signal, then, either from out of nowhere or from the shadows around them, the turtles suddenly found themselves surrounded by a whole legion of Foot ninjas (ten that they could see, there were probably more). The four ninja turtles readied their weapons again, and something told them, they may not get out of this battle unscathed.

"Foot Ninja, attack! Kill them!" The Shredder ordered and on command, the whole unit charged into battle against the turtles, and the turtles likewise did the same against the Foot. Leo was the first to attack, as two ninjas came in to attack him, he responded with a quick jump split kick to their chests and sent them staggering onto their backs. Donnie from another part of the roof, had just countered a Foot Ninja's slashing sword by spinning behind the ninja and striking his back with his steel staff. Raph had locked blades with another ninja, and undid the deadlock by thrusting a side kick into the ninja's stomach. Meanwhile, Mikey was standing face to face against three ninjas, he spins his nunchucks, ready to fight them, but he did not see the Shredder attack him, from behind, the Shredder jumped into the air and launched a flying side kick into Mikey's right side which sent him skidding across the roof on his shell. Leo was busy fighting against the same two ninjas he had previously knocked away and he too didn't notice the Shredder in time until he felt a strong kick to his shell courtesy of the Shredder. Leo was momentarily knocked away but he quickly regained his footing. Donnie was also busy fighting against two ninjas in front of him, he also didn't notice the Shredder approach him from behind until he grabbed Donnie from his steel staff and his shoulder and threw him across the roof. He landed on his back and at that point, another Foot Ninja jumped into the air and intended to finish him with a katana slash down onto his head. Fortunately for him, Raph appeared and block the katana with his sai,

"Watch your back, Brainiac!" Raph said,

"Isn't that what you're for, Raph?" Donnie replied and then had to defend himself as two more ninjas attacked him, and at that point Raph had disarmed the Foot ninja of his katana, but then the Shredder jumped in front of Raph and attacked. The two blocked and attacked each other, Raph with his twin sai and the Shredder with his bladed gauntlets. One moment later however, the two stood a foot apart and Raph took the initiative to thrust his sai forward and the Shredder's head, but the Shredder countered by blocking with both his bladed gauntlets and then shoved the sai down so that raph's face was exposed, he then thrusted a side kick into Raph's face and sent him flying back until his shell hit the hotel's electronic neon sign, the sign sparked at the damage and Raph was given a nasty one second shock throughout his body.

"RAPH!" Leo shouted out in concern for his brother before he had to fight against three ninjas. They stood next to the disabled bomb when they attacked each other. Two of the ninjas attacked leo from the front and before either could land a strike, Leo skipped in and side kicked one of them away and then blocked the other's katana strike to his head with his twin katana. He slashed his katana in an arc, pushing the ninja back and then as the third ninja came in to attack, Leo performed another split kick, the kick connecting to their stomachs and pushing them back. Just then the Shredder leaped into action against Leo, but Leo saw him coming this time and used his twin katana to block the Shredder's left bladed gauntlet, but had to duck and roll back as his right bladed gauntlet came in for a swipe at Leo's neck. Leo succeeded in dodging the attack and all the Shredder did was create a massive gash in the side of the disabled bomb, the damage making it spark. Donnie saw this happen from afar and realised what this meant; the electronics inside the bomb were still active, and without the mutagen, the bomb was just a regular bomb that could still destroy the building they were on. The Shredder cared little for this and charged at Leo, he took another swipe at Leo's head and missed again as Leo dodged by ducking and rolling under the swipe and the blade damaged the bomb and it sparked some more. Leo then attacked with his katana but the Shredder easily kicked him with a round kick to Leo's plastron and sent him skidding across the roof on his side, much like he did with Mikey. The sparks that emanated from the bomb however, caught the Shredder's attention and he realised that some of the sparks weren't getting out and he quickly leaped away from the bomb.

Then, there was an explosion. Not big enough to catch everyone on the roof, the turtles and the Shredder were still on the roof but far away from the blast so as to not get caught in it, and they along with a majority of the other Foot Ninjas were unharmed. The blast however had set fire to the building's roof. The fire covered most of the roof, but the Shredder was still willing to fight the turtles.

"Foot ninja, evacuate!" the Shredder ordered and on command, the Foot ninjas disappeared but he stayed behind. He stood from one end of the roof and the four turtles gathered to each other and faced him from the other side. The Shredder and the turtles charged at each other, but for the turtles it was to no avail, for as soon as they were within attacking distance, The Shredder jumped into the air and kicked Leo and Raph away in a split-second attack. Donnie was next and tried to attack with his staff, but the Shredder simply grabbed it and then bashed Donnie over the head with a spinning back fist and knocked him over onto his shell. As Donnie was down, the Shredder extended his blades with the intent to finish him, but Mikey in response threw his kusarigama chain and the chain and hook wrapped itself around the Shredder's gauntlet and pulled. The Shredder was not that surprised and yanked the chain and Mikey towards him, and as Mikey flew, he was helpless as the Shredder thrust a strong round kick to Mikey's plastron and sent him flying. Mikey wasn't done though, as he skimmed across the rooftop, he found time to throw some shuriken at the Shredder before disappearing over the edge of the burning roof. The shuriken flew but Shredder blocked with his gauntlets. At that point, the fire grew more intense as it consumed more of the building and not just the roof but the upper floors as well. At this point, the building's fire alarm sounded throughout the air, as well as the sounds of people panicking and rushing around inside the building. The Shredder didn't care however, but the fire alarm distracted him for a second and it gave Leo and Donnie enough time to attack, Leo attacked first, the Shredder reacted but it was too slow as Leo raced across the Shredder and his twin katana connected with his breastplate (no damage), and then Donnie raced from the other side and following up Leo's attack, he struck the Shredder across his head (along with the helmet he was wearing) with his steel staff and although there was no damage to the helmet, the Shredder still felt it. At this point, Mikey reappeared on the blazing roof next to Raph.

Leo came in at the Shredder from above intending to slash at his head, but the Shredder catches him and then slammed him shell first onto the roof, and with the fire weakening the roof, it cracked. With Leo on the ground, the Shredder chose then to finish him and readied his blades, but Donnie stopped him by swinging his staff down onto Shredder's armoured head. Again, the helmet was undamaged by the Shredder still felt the attack. He turned attention from Leo and to Donnie, he then grabbed Donnie's head, who didn't react quick enough, and threw him into Leo. The two turtles landed in a mess of limbs and Shredder once again readied his blades to finish them. But at that moment, Raph came flying in out of nowhere and tackled the Shredder from above and began relentlessly pounding his fists into the Shredder's head and face, and even though the Shredder felt each blow, but they didn't even slow him down as he stood back up with such force and speed that Raph staggered back but as he did so, Shredder turned and attacked raph with such speed that he was a blur.

The next thing Raph knew was that there was a sharp pain in his left shoulder as the Shredder stabbed him through his plastron and digging into the shoulder with one of his bladed gauntlets. Raph was too tough to scream but did manage a painful yelping noise as his blood started dribbling from his wound. The Shredder then retracted the blade, causing more blood to flow out of his wound and Raph kneeled down from the pain giving Shredder enough time to grab and throw Raph over his shoulder and then slammed him into the floor, further cracking and damaging it. As he readied his blades again to finish off Raph, Mikey once again threw his kusarigama chain at Shredder, and the hook and chain once again wrapped itaelf around his bladed gauntlet, this time however, Mikey threw it from atop the hotel's neon sign, he then dropped down behind the sign and as he went down with one end of the weapon, his weight brought the Shredder up to the sign. When Mikey landed on the floor, the Shredder momentarily found himself stuck and hanging high next to the sign. But then he slashed part of the neon sign with his bladed gauntlet, destroying it and unable to stop gravity, the slashed off part of the sign fell toward Mikey. Mikey let out a surprised scream before the partly destroyed sign landed on top of him. Lucky for him, his shell protected him, but it still hurt like hell. His three brothers rushed to him and used their combined strength to lift the destroyed but still heavy sign up, giving Mikey just enough space to crawl out. The four turtles stood battered and bruised and in Raph's case bloodied as well, but they were defiant against the armoured ninja as he sliced through the chain keeping him up and landing at a distance away from the ninja turtles. The Shredder readied his blades again but as he approached the turtles the building finally started to crumble around all five of them.

"NO!" the Shredder shouted as the destruction of the roof caused him to be separated from his kill. Though the turtles weren't exactly lucky either, the cracks and the destruction split them up in three different directions.

"GUYS! GET TO SAFETY!" Leo shouted out in a bit of a panic but then after he did so, the flames spread even further and completely cut him off from his three brothers. Leo backed away from the flames as best as he could, but in his battered and exhausted state, he didn't notice that he was backing to the edge until he tripped over the edge and plummeted down of the burning building. Leo screamed as he fell from the building, he would've surely been killed in the fall if the combination of his hard shell and a conveniently placed truck below hadn't been there to cushion what would have been a death fall. The shunt of his shell hitting the truck smashed the truck in, bending in completely out of shape and the pain that came with it was immense, but that was so much better than being dead, but at the same time it caused Leo to slip into unconsciousness.

The flames and the destruction of the roof separated Donnie and Mikey from Leo and Raph, and the flames only grew more intense. With no time to think this through, Donnie and Mikey jumped from the edge of the building and they too began a long fall to the ground below. Donnie got probably the best landing out of his brothers as he fell down towards a lamppost and though he used his steel staff to hook onto the top of the light, though that didn't stop him from screaming as he fell towards it, but as tried to hold on, his tired and beaten state couldn't hold on long and he lost his grip on his staff and he continued to fall to the ground. Luckily for him, his second fall wasn't as high and though he fell and screamed as he did so, the fall didn't kill him as he hit the ground. It hurt, but he was alive and conscious.

Though Mikey jumped from the same edge as Donnie, he had no lamppost to save him from falling to his death. It was then that he improvised his own rescue, as he fell, he was near the wall of the burning building and to potentially save himself, he used the hooks of his kusarigama chains and stabbed them into the wall, but that didn't stop his fall, only slowing it. The hooks left jagged and scarred lines down the wall of the building, slowing down his fall and when he couldn't hold on any longer, he was then just around ten or so feet off the ground and though he landed on his feet, the momentum of the fall meant that he landed hard and Mikey let out a painful scream as he felt something break in his right foot, which made him tumble onto his side, clutching his injured foot as he lay there on the pavement.

The flames had backed Raph to the edge of the building that would lead him into an alley, and with no time to think of a way to escape the flames uninjured, Raph down to the alley below. Raph had the fortune to grab onto the fire escape (ironically), but as he gripped the railings with both hands, the pain in his bleeding shoulder and damaged plastron flared throughout the rest of his body, he let out a pained yelp and he inadvertently let go of the railings as a result. He reacted quickly though when he grabbed a hold of another railing below with his right hand and this time, no pain in his shoulder. He then carefully levered himself onto the fire escape, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he was now on the fire escape, but he moved quickly as the blaze of the building grew too intense now.

 **?**

 _The alley the four turtles walked through was foggy, dark, eerie. The four were battered and beaten and looked as though they moved to try and hide. As they neared the corner that would lead them to the street, Leo signalled for them to stop,_

" _Shredder could be anywhere, guys. Stay frosty." Leo said,_

" _FYI, frost can't accumulate unless below freezing except for- "Donnie began to ramble on about the science of frost and cold, which annoyed Raph who was standing behind him,_

" _Maybe he has an 'off switch' somewhere?" Mikey asked and on cue, Raph slapped Donnie on the head, effectively ending the rambling with Donnie letting out an 'OW' as a result._

" _Found it!" Raph said as Mikey giggled, but the laughter and the smiling stopped at the sound of an all too familiar voice,_

" _And I found four pathetic turtles, with only seconds to live." It was the voice of the Shredder but the darkness of the alley combined with the frost made it sound like he was everywhere._

" _Wouldn't want to be them!" Mikey said a bit ignorantly._

" _We ARE them!" Raph corrected and the four turtles brought out their weapons and scanned the area to find the source of the voice. Mikey nervously backed away, lightly spinning his nunchucks but then the Shredder suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders and with a surprised yelp, Mikey was dragged off and out of sight in the frost. The sound along with one of his nunchucks sliding to his brother's feet got their attention._

" _Mikey!" Donnie shouted and then charged at the Shredder with his steel staff, but as he attacked by swinging the staff down upon the Shredder, he countered by sidestepping and then thrusting a strong punch to Donnie's face, the punch connected and Donnie was sent flying across the alley, only to be stopped by the Shredder suddenly speeding behind him and then thrusting a side kick to his shell and propelled him forward and Donnie landed face first on the ground. He then turned his attention to the two remaining turtles._

" _Raph, take him down!" Leo ordered as he and Raph charged at the Shredder. Leo attacked from the ground while Raph ran along the wall to attack from above. Leo attack did nothing except earn him and few punches to his head and then getting kicked away, then as Raph jumped from the wall and used gravity to propel him, he pointed his twin sai down onto the Shredder. But it was no use as Shredder smacked the sai away with his gauntlets, he then let out a series of quick jabs to Raph's plastron before thrusting a final punch into his plastron that sent him flying across the alley and into the darkness that the frost provided, screaming as he flew away. Leo ran after his brother but no result as Raph vanished behind the thick blanket of frost, his screaming stopping as he did._

" _NO!" Leo shouted, after that, the nightmare got worse as the night sky turned red, Leo looked about trying to find the Shredder but he was gone, his demonic laughter echoing throughout the alley. Suddenly, Leo felt a presence behind him and when turned to face him, he was sent flying across the alley as Shredder slashed his plastron with his bladed gauntlets. Leo scrambled to get away but he ended up backing against the wall, fear evident on his face as the Shredder approached him, eyes as red as a demon and the blades of his gauntlet scratching the wall ah he approached to kill Leo._

" _There is no place you can run, no place you can hide, where I will not find you. You think you are ready to face me?" Shredder's voce bordered on demonic as he approached Leo and when he was within distance, Leo let out a scream as the Shredder sliced at him._

"NOOOOO!" the scene has changed and Splinter was in his bedroom, meditating, though his meditation had somehow turned into nightmare. But then, Splinter realised that it was more than just a nightmare; it was a vision. His sons needed him.

"I must find my sons!" Splinter said to himself, and with that, he grabbed his jade cane and strapped on his katana (his sword was a bit more refined than Leo's, and where Leo's sword guard was square shaped, Splinter's was round), and raced out of the safety of the Lair to find his sons.

9:31pm… Wolf Hotel…

Though Donnie was in pain, at least he was still moving. He slowly stood up and the sounds of pained moaning and groaning that Mikey was making, caught his attention.

"Gee, I can't take you anywhere, Mikey." Donnie said as he tried to lighten the mood. They had just got beaten down by the Shredder, so he thought he may as well try.

"Hey! Come on, dude. I'm hurt, be nice!" Mikey said as he continued to clutch his foot. Donnie knew something was wrong but now was not the time or place to examine the wound.

"Come on, grab a hold." Donnie said as he lent Mikey his staff to lean on. Mikey took the staff and used it to steadily stand. He then wrapped his arm around Donnie shoulders to stabilise himself. The two then walked away, but they noted that the building was still full of panicking humans. They could do nothing to save them from the burning wreckage as the building crumbled in on itself. As the turtles walked away, they could help but feel partly responsible for not being able to stop the Shredder from igniting the building. As they rounded a corner into an alley, they turned their heads to the building,

"Dude…"

"Uh oh…"

The two looked on as the Shredder simply walked out of the blaze like it was nothing to him. The image solidified in Donnie's mind that the Shredder couldn't be human.

"Tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing…" Mikey whispered, as he didn't want that nightmare knowing where he was.

"I wish I could, Mikey." Donnie replied also in a whisper. The Shredder was now completely out of the blaze and into the street outside. He raised his hand and on cue, the group of ninjas that he brought with him all appeared and kneeled before him.

"Find the turtles, they cannot be far. Do not allow them to escape." The Shredder ordered, but before the Foot ninjas could carry out their orders, the sounds of police, ambulances and fire trucks sounded in the background and approached the building. "Grr… Foot Ninja, disappear! Report to me when you find them. I want to make sure that they are dead." And with that, the Shredder and the Foot Ninjas scattered into the shadows and as if on cue, police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks surrounded the burning wreckage.

Leo awoke from where he was sprawled on and the first thing he noted was that he was in a lot of pain. He tried to shake it off, but the pain was too much. He should thank his shell and the truck that he landed on later. Right now, he was more concerned with moving and regrouping with his brothers. Leo could only let out grunts and moans of pain as he tried to move, but his slow and pained movements made him fit the stereotype 'turtles are slow'. Eventually though, he managed to crawl to the edge, though his movements were slow and clumsy and as a result, when he reached the edge of the truck, even gently lowering himself down proved too much. He landed on both feet on the pavement but the pain was still too much and he keeled over on his hands and knees.

"C-come… on… Leo… … … y-you… c-can… get… … aw…ay… … … just… ig…nore… the… … … pain…" Leo was giving himself some pep talk and even to him it sounded pathetic with him grunting and breathing in pain in between words, he still steeled himself to get to the safety of the shadows, even if he had to crawl there. Leo should've known it wouldn't be that simple because five seconds or so later, he was surrounded by six Foot ninjas and he was in no condition to fight them.

"…oh… shell…"

The building was crumbling with innocent people still inside, and though Raph was lucky that the fire escape was there for him to save himself from the fall, he still couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for it because they couldn't stop the Shredder from starting the fire, even if it was unintentional. Raph didn't know it, but between himself and his brothers, he was the least injured from the fall, as he was still capable of running, and fighting even though the blood was running down his plastron from his stab wound.

" _I gotta move. Who knows what's going on with my bros right now?"_ Raph said inside his head and then he proceeded to exit the alley and find his brothers. He had just walked out of the alley and onto the street, he could hear sirens from police cars, ambulances and fire trucks around the corner, but that wasn't what he was concerned with, for as soon as he walked out of the alley, the first thing he saw was Leo on his hands and knees and surrounded by Foot ninjas. Leo looked badly hurt and in no condition to fight. The Foot ninjas drew out their weapons and Raph saw what this meant,

"Like shell they will!" Raph brought out his twin sai and charged in to rescue Leo. The Foot ninjas were so focused on the beaten and badly wounded turtle on the floor in front of them that they never saw Raph coming for them until he clobbered one of them over the head with the hilt of one of his sai.

"Hey, Leo. I'm no expert but _that_ doesn't look like a fighting stance." Raph said as he pointed to Leo who was still on his hands and knees because of the pain but he managed to look up at Raph.

"Ha… and … ha…" Leo said weakly but thanks to Raph all of the remaining ninja's attention was on himself now and not Leo. Five Foot ninjas versus an injured Raphael? Still easy. The ninjas attacked and Raph quick to respond, as one ninja jumped up to swing his katana down onto Raph's head, he countered by jumping up to meet the ninja head on, and slammed the hilts of his twin sai into the ninja's stomach, thrusting him back and onto the pavement. As he landed, another ninja took another swipe at his head with his katana, and Raph responded to that by ducking under the swipe and using a low spin kick to the ninja's lower legs, and though the ninja jumped up and out the way, Raph saw another opportunity and thrust the hilt on one of his sai into the ninja's gut as he came down, thrusting him away just like the other ninja. Another ninja came in next and tried to stab Raph in the head with one of his twin daggers, but Raph countered by sidestepping and bashing the ninja over the head with hilt of one of his twin sai (three times). The ninja slumped over like a sack of potatoes, out cold. Then, the other two ninjas that he knocked over early, sprang up onto their feet. Now it was four on one. Raph charged at them and the ninjas were a little unprepared for it, giving Raph the opportunity for a clean strike, and he took it. He first disarmed onr of the ninjas of his katana and then grabbed his head and forcefully smashed it against the side of the truck, hard. The ninja fell to the ground and was unconscious by the time the remaining three attacked. As one of the ninjas tried to slash and Raph's head in a downward swing with his katana, Raph responded by launched himself forward and struck the ninja twice in the head with the hilt's of his twin sai before thrusting a front kick to his gut, launching him into the wall behind him, just then one of the remaining ninjas got behind Raph and wrapped his arms around Raph and pinned his arms down and then his one remained companion intended to cut and slash him with his knives, but Raph countered this by thrusting a straight rising kick up into the attacking ninja's jaw and then repeatedly thrusting his elbows into the other's ribs. The ninja ended up letting go after the eighth elbow to his ribs before Raph thrust one last elbow into the ninja's face. He was out cold by the time he hit the ground. Then the last and final ninja once again charged at Raph, but as he swung his knives down, Raph sidestepped and then hammered the hilt of his sai onto the ninja's head. Six ninjas down. And the only reason why there was blood on the ground was because Raph's wound dripped it everywhere during the fight.

Raph placed his twin sai back into his belt before approached Leo, who during the scuffle, had managed to sit himself up against the side of the truck. By then the building that was on fire next to them grew more and more intense.

"Come on, Leo. We gotta get you out of here." Raph said as he placed Leo's arm over his shoulder and used his other arm to help straighten Leo up as he helped him up.

"…oh… so, you're… leader now?" Leo said weakly and also jokingly.

"Given that you're in no shape to order me around now, yes." Raph said and then gently moved Leo away from the chaotically burning building.

"… got… to… find the… others…" Leo said weakly,

"I know, bro. Hopefully, they haven't got the same issues we have." Raph said as he hoped to whatever higher being that Donnie and Mikey were alive and okay.

Speaking of Donnie and Mikey…

The two, because of Mikey's bad foot, they made slow but steady progress away from the crumbling hotel. They were in the middle of an alley when,

"Mikey, look." Donnie said in a whisper and pointed up ahead. In the direction they were going, at the other end of the alley, they saw a few human shadows coming their way and although it could be curious or concerned humans coming their way, with their luck it was probably more Foot ninjas. Donnie quickly scanned the area and noticed a fire escape up on one side of one of the buildings.

"Mikey, up there." Donnie pointed to the fire escape and Mikey nodded in agreement. Although he had a bad foot, he could still use his other good foot to help bounce the two of them of the ladder. And they did so, and from above, they saw that it was indeed more ninjas looking for them.

Back to Leo and Raph…

In another alley, Leo and Raph had taken refuge in the shadows of the alley, and unless someone had night vision, they would not be able to see them as they seemed perfectly camouflaged in the darkness. Good thing then the two Foot ninjas who just entered the same alley didn't know this as they were oblivious as they stood side by side in front of the very same shadows that concealed Raph completely.

"Koko demonai." (Not here either) one of the ninjas said,

"Karera wa sudeni hanarete iru to wa omowanai?" (You don't think they got away already?) the other replied and in that instance, the two were unpleasantly surprised when a pair of three fingered green hands grabbed each of their heads before unceremoniously slamming them together. The two fell to the ground completely knocked out.

"We have now." Raph said as he quietly stepped back into the shadows to check on Leo. Leo in question was sat upright against a wall, still hurt but breathing normally. Raph took that as a good sign. He crouched down to Leo so that they were face to face.

"Leo, how are you holding up?" Raph said and then thought how much of a stupid question that was once he said it. Leo thought that too, but decided to humour him anyway,

"… peachy…"

Leo was in no condition to help himself, let alone Raph as well, which would have been helpful as a pair of hands reached out from behind Raph. They grabbed his shoulders, surprising him and then pulled him back. "WHAA!" was all Raph could manage before he wrenched himself free of the grip on his shoulders and turned to smash in the face of who dared to try-

But behind him was Master Splinter and when Raph saw him, surprise and relief filled him.

"Master Splinter!" Raph said out loud in which Splinter shushed him to be quiet. Now Splinter could see the conditions his sons were in; Raph looked bruised in a few places with a very noticeable stab wound in his left shoulder, and Leo looked badly beaten, like he just survived a war.

"My sons, I had a feeling something awful had happened to you. It appears my feelings were correct." Splinter said and then crouched down in front of Leo. "Where are Donatello and Michelangelo?" Splinter asked.

"We got separated, I don't know where they are. We've been hiding from Foot ninjas." In the condition that they were in it was no surprise to Master Splinter when Raph said this.

"Come, we must get you two to safety." Splinter said and then helped Leo up.

"But what about the others?" Raph asked.

"I will find them, Raphael." Splinter said and Leo and Raph were relieved at his words. After a few moments, the three slowly walked to a manhole cover in the middle of another alley. "Raphael, take Leonardo down below. I will follow soon with Donatello and Michelangelo. Do not come back up, and stay below." Master Splinter ordered and although Raph wanted to protest, not only would that be stupid to try and argue with his Sensei but also because Leo wouldn't be able to fight for himself. He was on bodyguard duty, and so he obeyed orders.

"Hai, Sensei."

Back to Donnie and Mikey…

Although the two ninja turtles were slow, they had managed to get onto a rooftop across the burning building. From above, they could see that the police had barricaded the area to keep the ever-growing crowd of people from getting too close. They also saw fire trucks and fireman frantically trying to contain the blaze and numerous emergency health nurses and doctors helping the people who escaped and ordering for more ambulances to come by as there were too many hurt and dying. This was the result of the Shredder's actions for trying to kill them and their brothers and from the look of things, he didn't care of who was caught in the crossfire. The two turtles were so caught up in the scene before them that they almost didn't hear their own names being called out to them.

"Sensei!" the two said together and then slowly walked to over to their Sensei. Master Splinter also walked towards them and when they met in the middle of the roof.

"Are we ever glad to see you, Sensei." Mikey said,

"And I am pleased to see you too, my sons." Master Splinter replied,

"Where are Leo and Raph?" Donnie asked,

"Waiting for us. They are already in the sewer. Now come, before we attract unwanted attention." Splinter said and they didn't need to be told twice but as for Mikey,

"But… all those people…" as Mikey took one last glance at the chaos behind him, Splinter placed his hand on Mikey's shoulder,

"I know, Michelangelo. But there is nothing that we can do for them." Master Splinter looked solemn as he said this, the fire of the hotel already brought back painful memories for Splinter because of the Shredder and now, the Shredder has once again ruined more lives. "As you have probably seen, the Shredder cares not for those who are in the crossfires of this folly. And to think, even now we do not know why…" Splinter was brutally honest about this. There was no way around it for the scene before them. The three then steadily walked away from the chaos behind them, though the two turtles looked more downtrodden.

10:02pm… The Lair…

Once all five got back to the Lair, the extent of the damage they suffered became more noticeable once they were safe in their home now. But today saw not one, but two failures. What started as a hunt for a mutant pigeon named Pete had then led to a failure to rescue Kirby O'neil, finding out about the mutagen bomb from said rescue mission and disabling it, to getting thoroughly beaten by the Shredder, which left them scratched, scarred, bruised, beaten. Raph had a stab wound in his shoulder and was sitting at Donnie's newly makeshift lab where Donnie was stitching up, Mikey held an icepack to his foot (turns out it was just a light sprain) and was just sitting on a chair, but Leo received the worst of it and was being treated by Splinter, the two were also inside the lab but Leo was lying on a bed that Donnie had prepared for himself, and Splinter had to use a lot a healing ointment on practically everywhere on Leo's body. And yet despite this…

"You are all very lucky." Splinter said,

"I think we can define that word differently, Sensei." Raph said almost dejectedly but at the same time, he felt angry at this level of defeat.

"Few have ever faced the Shredder and lived." Splinter said as if to prove how lucky they were.

"He was just so strong and fast." Mikey said, and without his bright signature smile, he looked and sounded gloomy.

"It's like he was everywhere at once. And it's like he knew what we were going to do half the time." Donnie said as if trying to comprehend how bad they lost tonight.

"I suppose that's what years of experience can do, Donnie." Raph said gloomily, "You were right, Sensei. About earlier. There are just some things… we're not ready for." For Raph to say this when he was the one who was supposedly ready for anything just proved how beaten he truly felt. Leo thought the same thing and would've said the same thing, but he felt too badly hurt from falling into a truck to try and attempt to speak, lest he sounded more pathetic than his wounds would've had him look.

"Perhaps. But none of that matters now. It is clear now that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away. So, prepare yourselves, my sons. For as of this moment… we. are. at. war." It was a foreboding moment at from that moment on, the turtles realised that things were bound to get even tougher for them now.

11:22pm… Foot HQ…

"Nani mo?" (nothing?) the Shredder growled. He had just entered the shrine on the top floor and was still in his full armour. Six Foot soldiers were with him and all kneeled before him as they delivered the news.

"Omo yo, watashitachiha zen shūi o sagashimashita, karera no chōkō wa arimasen." (Master, we have searched the entire perimeter, there is no sign of them), one of the Foot soldiers replied. At this, the Shredder looked ready to kill anyone in the room who would dare deliver to him more bad news, seeing this, another Foot soldier quickly added in,

"Dakedo! Karera wa mukizu de nigenakatta yōdesu! Watashitachiha, tatemono ga hōkai shite kara akai masuku no mono ga shukketsu shite iru koto o shirimashita. Mata, aoiro no torakku ga torakku ni ochikonde, jūshō o otta." (But! It appears that they didn't escape unharmed! We have learned the one in the red mask was bleeding since the building collapsed. Also, the one in blue fell into a truck and was seriously wounded as a result.) the soldier said, thinking this was good news. But to the Shredder, it wasn't good news as it was evident from the way he kicked the soldier across the shrine as a response.

"Orokamono! Watashi wa teki o shinikakete hoshī! Karada ga mitsukarimasendeshita. Shitagatte, karera wa ikinokorimashita. Sore wa karera ga tatakai kara kaifuku shi, karera ga modotte kuru koto o imi shi, karera wa watashi no soba no togedeari tsudzukemasu! Dakara watashi ni oshietekudasai. Soko kara yoi nyūsu ga arimasu ka?" (Fools! I want my enemies' dead! No bodies were found, therefore, they survived and that means that they will recover from our battle and they will be back and they will be back and they will continue to be a thorn in my side! So, tell me, what good news is there from that?), the Shredder roared, which made the Foot soldiers cower as they then knew what would happen next. Moments later, all six were on the ground, badly beaten.

"Kame wa watashi ga dekiru koto o kanjimashita. Hakai o mita. Karera no kokoro ni kyōfu o daka serunoni jūbundearu koto o negatte imasu. Anata no 6-ri ga chōdo omoidasa reta to iu kyōfu. Iku! Soshite, warui nyūsu o watashi ni ataeru tsugi no hito wa, supaiku no ue ni atama o mochimasu!" (The turtles have felt what I am capable of. Seen the destruction. Hopefully that will be enough to install the fear into their minds. A fear that the six of you have just been reminded of. Go! And the next person to give me bad news, will have their head on a spike!) the Shredder announced in a fit of anger, and the Foot soldiers didn't need to be told twice as they all scrambled away and out of the shrine. Now alone, the Shredder removed his helmet,

" **Hehehe… a little bit harsh there, don't you think? Making them feel the ire of** _ **your**_ **failure."** It was that voice again. Ch'rell.

"I am in no mood for your witty words or your words in general, Ch'rell." The Shredder said but Ch'rell just laughed,

" **Oh? And what are you going to do about that? It's not like you can kill me for it! That would mean you would be killing yourself too!"** Ch'rell said before laughing his sickly sounding laugh that echoed throughout the shrine.

?

The room was dark but the lights from above were pointing down onto the floor where a lone man was kneeling. He had blue coloured hair that was tied up behind his head and spiked out. He wore a grey trench-coat, a pair of sunglasses, a black shirt underneath, a pair of black trousers, a pair of black boots but most noticeable was the gold pendant around his neck that had the symbol of the Hamato clan. As he knelt down, four more lights shone on four figures, all looked human expect for their eyes which were a ghostly grey.

"Report, Guardian." One of them said.

"Masters, tonight was not a good night. The Shredder has defeated the turtles at Wolf Hotel." The man said as he looked up to his Masters.

"This is unfortunate."

"What of their…"

"Status now?"

All of them seemed to share the same sounding voice and it seemed that each one knew what the other was thinking.

"Masters, the Shredder was unable to finish them. With the help of fellow Guardian, Hamato Yoshi, the turtles escaped." The man said.

"This is good news."

"Continue your…"

"Observation, Guardian."

" **And do not engage the turtles until Guardian Hamato Yoshi feels that they are ready."** all four said at the same time and with his orders, the man they called Guardian left the room.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hope I didn't confuse those who are new to the show but hardcore fans will know who Ch'rell is. And for those who don't, I will not spoil it for you! Anyway, hope you liked it, and hope you like the next chapter! Until then!**


	17. Justified Anger

**me: Hello readers! So, this chapter is loosely based around the TMNT 2012 episode 'Panic in the Sewers', but this has huge differences. Enjoy!**

* * *

June 3rd… 2012… 3:58pm… The Lair…

Master Splinter had always feared the day when (not if) his sons would one-day cross paths with The Shredder, but he never thought they would encounter him so soon. So young, and so inexperienced (when compared to Shredder's at least). Master Splinter thought it best to skip this morning's training to give his sons more time to rest and relax, and though they needed it, it didn't stop the depressing atmosphere. Mikey's foot made a quick recovery as it was evident when he walked normally. Donnie also recovered quickly, though he suffered less damage than his brothers. Although Donnie was successful in stitching up Raph's shoulder wound, he was left shaking from the shock of accidentally getting some of Raph's blood on his hands. He realised that in their lives, this was going to happen often and he would have to steel himself for more of those times. Raph on the other hand seemed fine but then Donnie had agreed with Splinter that the stab wound would leave a permanent scar on his shoulder. They weren't kidding, when he went to see Donnie this morning to redress his wound, they saw that his upper left part of the plastron had a lightning shaped scar that showed how and where the Shredder stabbed him. Donnie was stricken, visibly and though Raph didn't show it, he was almost angry that he was going to carry this scar for the rest of his life. Leo however needed a bit more time to recover, even though Donnie had explained that their mutation had also given them a fast-healing ability, falling into a truck still did tremendous damage. One night's rest may have done him some good, but he would need at least another day and night, according to Donnie. Although Leo wasn't hurting as much as he was last night, just trying to move from out of his bed proved difficult, not just because his bed was comfortable but also because his body ached all over.

At this time, all five mutants were relaxing down below, Leo was lying on the sofa (usually Mikey's place) and was sipping on some herbal remedy tea. The tea smelled and tasted absolutely foul, something that all three of his brothers reminded him of and Leo himself nearly grimaced every time he took a few sips of the tea. Raph was busy punching and kicking the punching dummy and every time he punched with his left arm, he got the feeling of pins and needles in his corresponding shoulder. Though that didn't stop him from continuing to hit the poor thing. Mikey's spot on the sofa was taken over and so instead, he sat on the armchair watching (with mild disinterest) Space Heroes. Master Splinter was meditating on a tatami mat in front of his bedroom. And Donnie had just exited his lab and his projects to go to the kitchen for some coffee. Their time of peace and quiet and recovery was interrupted when April entered the Lair via the elevator and carrying some bags of shopping. Initially, when Donnie saw her from near the middle of the Lair, he had hearts in his eyes and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered wildly. That was until he saw her heart-stricken expression,

"April?" Donnie said as he walked to approach her, with concern on his face. April was almost silent and when she and Donnie took the bags of shopping to the kitchen, she asked to speak with everyone.

Everyone was in the makeshift living room and the almost wasn't just depressing, it was also almost tense.

"April? What's wrong?" Donnie finally asked. He did succeed in breaking the ice, though going by April's expression of sadness, something told them this wasn't just about their failure to rescue Kirby last night.

"Guys… it's… about that hotel fire…" the turtles instantly froze. This was going to be bad news. They had told her about how badly the Shredder beat them on top of the hotel, and it seemed the aftermath was going to be harsh.

"I've been keeping an eye the news about the hotel and…" April struggled with how to tell them and Splinter saw this,

"April, we are aware that the Shredder has indeed left his marks. Please tell us how badly." Master Slinter tried to encourage her, she sat on the sofa and tried her best not to curl up into a ball.

"There were… forty-five people inside that hotel…" when April said 'were', the turtles and Splinter knew exactly what this meant. "…ten people managed to escape with a few cuts and burns, a few more had to be taken to the emergency rooms, and at least… twenty-two are confirmed to be dead…" if the atmosphere in the Lair wasn't depressing enough before, this news just made it even more depressing. "…they say that the number is only going to increase as their still going through the rubble. Also, their saying that there was something heavy on the roof and that the fire meant that the roof couldn't support it. I'm guessing that was the Kraang's bomb you told me about." April said, Donnie's face sprang up to ask a quick question,

"The bomb? Do the humans have it?" Donnie asked. The last thing anyone wanted to find out that the humans on the surface have unknown alien tech in their hands.

"That's just the thing. They don't. We're the only ones who know that there was a bomb on top of that roof. Once the fire was under control, it just vanished. It's gone." April said and that made everyone think the same thing,

"Do you think the Kraang got their tentacles on it?" Raph asked and even though no-one said it, they all thought the same thing- the Kraang have it.

12:12am… **?**

"SENSEI!" a scream resonates throughout wherever Master Splinter now stood. He honestly had no idea where here was as he stood in a pitch-black space where only he stood.

"SENSEI!" the sound resonates again this time, he recognises it at Mikey's voice. And he sounded like he was on the verge of panicking.

"SENSEI!" he shouts again desperately, but in this pitch-black space, he had no idea where Mikey was shouting from.

"MICHELANGELO! I AM HERE! WHERE ARE YOU!" Master Splinter shouted out.

"…papa…" this time, Mikey's voice was so weak yet Splinter managed to pinpoint that Mikey was right behind him, on the floor in a puddle of his own blood and covered almost from head to toe. And no wonder, his left arm had been severed, and his upper and lower torso were separated. Master Splinter stood in shock and disbelief.

"… Michelangelo…" Master Splinter fell to his knees but as soon as his knees hit the ground, Mikey was suddenly gone, like he was never there to begin with. No blood, no body. Nothing.

"How could you let him die that?" this time it was Raph's voice sounding throughout the darkness, and he sounded cold and angry. Master Splinter had never heard him sound like this before and directed at him. For the first time ever, Splinter felt something akin to a chill going down his spine, slowly.

"Why didn't you protect him like you promised you would? Why were you so… lazy?" Raph's words struck a nerve, and although he was mad at what Raph said, he also felt saddened.

"No! I- but as Master Splinter stood up to find Raph, he was suddenly face to face with him, but his appearance horrified Splinter to the core. Raph had cut and gashes all over his body but the most fatal cut going from one said of his neck to the other.

"Why… didn't you… try?" Raph asked and all the sudden his head slid of his shoulders. The head bounced and rolled and Master Splinter fell back trying to get away but Raph's head rolled towards him. Then as Raph's body fell backwards and hit the ground…

"…why…?" was said from Raph's severed head before dying out.

"NO! I NEVER GAVE UP! I NEVER STOPPED TRYING?" Master Splinter shouted out, now forgetting where he was.

"Then why this happen twice?" Splinter was shocked to hear his deceased wife, Tang Shen resonate throughout the darkness but before he could shout out for her another hollow voice sounded in the dark,

"Hamato Yoshi." It was the Shredder's voice and he heard him clearly. Behind! He turned around quickly but was stunned to find himself and his nemesis standing on top of a roof of a New York City skyscraper. He was in the middle but the Shredder was standing near the edge and dangling Donnie other the edge by holding his throat.

"DONATELLO!" he shouted and Donatello looked at him with pleading eyes and panic. The Shredder looked as though he was holding Donnie's throat so hard that it prevented Donnie from speaking or breathing properly.

"I am giving you a choice." As soon as Shredder said with, something out of the corner of Splinter's eye. Kneeling on the floor next to him, tied up and beaten badly was Leo, his head hung low and facing the floor.

"Kill Leonardo now, or Donatello dies." The Shredder's voice was so cold and demonic that Splinter was stricken with a sense of overwhelming fear. So much so, that he hesitated which gave Shredder the wrong impression.

"Very well." The Shredder said before letting go of Donnie's throat and dropping him over the edge. His screams echoed and started to die down as he neared the ground.

"NOOOOO!" Splinter shouted and raced uselessly for his son. But the moment he closed in on the Shredder, everything was in pitch-black darkness again. Splinter was almost on the verge of fear stricken tears.

"…sensei…" Splinter feared when Leo's voice sounded behind him. He was still in a badly beaten state but his binds were gone, and yet still he kneeled like he had been utterly defeated. It was then that Shredder emerged from the darkness behind Leo and held his bladed gauntlet to Leo's throat.

"NOOOO!" Splinter shouted before he began racing towards the two, yet he never seemed to get closer, in fact the two seemed to get further away from him.

"LEONARDO!" was all Splinter could manage before the Shredder blade began cutting-

"NOOOOO!" abruptly, the pitch-black was gone and Master Splinter was sitting up, panting and sweating a cold sweat in his Japanese style bed. A nightmare. He had nightmares before but this one made him lose the line between dream and reality, and that terrified him even more.

"Sensei!" Leo's voice sounded as he entered his Sensei's room, his voice wasn't hollow or desperate or beaten or helpless. It just sounded of concern for his Sensei. Leo stood at the doorway and the two just stayed as they were, staring at each other. Splinter broke the silence,

"Leonardo? What are you doing up at this hour?" Master Splinter almost face-palmed at such a stupid question. He blamed it on the recent nightmare.

"Sensei? It's 5:45am." Leo said. Splinter looked down upon himself as he took in his shaky self. Of course, Leo would be up at this hour, he would usually wake up somewhere between 5am and 5:40am so he could start stretching and meditating on his own.

"Sensei, did you have a nightmare?" Splinter expected that kind of question and when he didn't answer right away, Leo the answer.

"Yes, my son. But… a dream is a dream. If I was meditating… I…" but Splinter stopped himself as he knew whatever he had to say would've been partly a lie. Everyone does it after they have a nightmare; they try to brush it off by either saying 'it doesn't matter' or 'it's nothing'. But Splinter knew better than that.

"The Shredder has been the cause of many of my nightmares. This one was just more terrifying than the others." Splinter always told them that the best way to confront a nightmare is to voice it out to your loved ones, so that they can share it and therefore you won't be alone in it.

June 4th… 7:03pm…

The day had been unusually more tense than depressing. Maybe because the four turtles were getting over their recent loss to the Shredder which worried Splinter for some unknown reason. Well, unknown to everyone except for Splinter himself and Leo. That nightmare triggered a more stern and harder approach to the training, and although it was prudent for the turtles to step up their game, even Leo thought that the training might be a little excessive. At least they could now all go out onto the surface again now that they had fully recovered from their last encounter with the Shredder. Donnie thanked out loud how their mutation also gave them a fast-healing ability.

"Come on!" Raph said as he and his brothers neared the elevator to start their evening patrol, but…

"Where are you going?" Master Splinter suddenly said from behind them. He was close behind and he sounded like the four had just broken some golden rules that shouldn't have been broken.

"Heading out for our evening patrol…?" Leo was understandably confused at his Sensei's sudden stern question. He was sure that none of them had done anything wrong.

"There will be no patrol." Splinter sounded like he was in full father mode. And seeing as he was a Grandmaster of Ninjutsu, the four turtles stood to attention, albeit with no idea what had suddenly caused this kind of action from their Sensei.

"Sensei?"

"Last time you fought the Shredder, you barely escaped with your lives." Master Splinter said as it was his reasoning for forbidding them from going to the surface now.

"But Sensei, this time we'll be ready." Raph said as he twirled his twin sai in both sides as if to prove his readiness, but Splinter was having none of it.

"Yes." Master Splinter said before grabbing Raph's arm and forcing it behind his back, making him drop his twin sai, "Because you will stay down here until you are ready! No patrol, no games, no rest! There is only training!" Master Splinter declared before shoving Raph into his brothers. The four turtles were startled by this. "Starting now!"

June 19th… 5:21am…

One would think that training throughout the night for ten hours with no rest would be way too much to handle. And you would be right. The four ninja turtles stood on weakened legs, arms up as sloppy guards, their fighting stances were wobbly and at the head of the extreme lesson stood Master Splinter like this was nothing even though he too stood upright all night.

"More, Sensei…?" Mikey asked and he dreaded the answer he was going to get as he stood beside Donnie, both about ready drop onto the floor. Leo and Raph stood across from them just as worn and exhausted.

"Yes. More." Master Splinter replied, almost demanding. The four turtles could only breath heavily, before Mikey and Donnie charged (sloppily) at Leo and Raph. Leo and Raph were just as sloppy and when Donnie and Mikey through a very tired punch at them, they countered by lightly grabbing their arms and weakly throwing them behind them. Splinter was not impressed.

"There is no intention in your strikes! Do it again! We will practise all night if we have to!" Master Splinter all but barked out.

"We have been practising all night…" Donnie said weakly in response as he stood up on shaky legs and then right after they all heard the sound of Mikey lightly snoring on the floor. He looked like he was happily dreaming and his brothers were envious of whatever he was dreaming about.

"Wake him up!" Master Splinter demanded and even though he was almost sorry to do so, Raph obeyed. Almost sorry.

"Gladly." Raph then picked up Mikey (bridal style) and then unceremoniously dropped him onto his shell with a loud 'THUD!'.

"AAARRRGH! SHREDDER JUST POPPED OUT AND ATTACKED ME!" Mikey yelled out as he sat upright. Leo kneeled beside him and placed a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder,

"Relax, you were just having a nightmare." Leo said as he helped Mikey up onto his feet.

"Aren't we all…" Raph said almost in a mumble, Donnie raised his hand for a most obvious question that was on everyone's minds,

"Sensei… can we rest for a sec…?" Donnie asked feebly which earned them all a stern and unfair glare from Master Splinter,

"Rest? Hm… the Shredder will not rest. Until you are all dead!" Master Splinter shouted out. Leo became a bit defensive for himself and his brothers,

"Sensei, w-we've been training non-stop for weeks with hardly any sleep. We need a break!" Leo said defensively, but at the mention of 'weeks', something stirred within Leo that he wasn't familiar with.

"That's an understatement, Fearless." Raph said in deadpan expression,

"What, like you could word it any better?" Leo said as he turned to Raph by his side.

"Well, I could certainly try…" Raph said and the two were almost happy to start a playful banter with each other.

 _*WHACK**WHACK**WHACK**WHACK*_

None of them saw it coming, one moment they had a slight playful word with each other and the next they were tossed into the air like broken twigs. Leo, Raph and Donnie landed on their shells while Mikey landed on his plastron. Splinter was the perpetrator.

"If I were the Shredder, none of you would be breathing right now! Understand?" Splinter stood ominously above them, his entire body seemed to be covered by shadow, making him look… demonic. The four turtles sat upright, and Leo felt the stirring in his gut grow bigger and he was just beginning to understand what it was. He thought he was unfamiliar with it, but he had felt it before with his brothers when they sometimes annoyed him too much. But before it could stir anymore, Mikey suddenly slumped against Leo's shoulder, fast asleep and almost smiling. Again, his brothers were envious of whatever dream he was having to make him almost smile.

"Perhaps a brief rest was in order. We will resume later." A change of heart and the four turtles couldn't have felt more relaxed since this almost unwarranted drill sergeant entered their lives. Leo, Raph and Donnie breathed huge sighs of relief as they weakly stood up on their tired legs, Leo straining even more as he lifted Mikey up onto his sleepy feet. The four turtles retreated to their rooms in a very stereotypically slow fashion.

Once all four of the turtles had slumped into their rooms and into their own beds (which felt like heaven), Leo couldn't help but think over Master Splinter's actions up until now. Before he drifted off into dreamland, he thought over this almost unfamiliar feeling within his gut that began to stir when Master Splinter turned from caring father and strict Sensei to an overkill drill sergeant. Now that he had the time and space to think about it, he came to realise that this feeling would sometimes stir when his brothers got on his nerves too much but it wasn't nearly as powerful as it was now. His brothers, even though they annoyed him to no end, the feeling was always manageable to the point where got used to it. But now that Splinter had resorted to these types of training, it stirred even greater. No wonder Leo didn't recognise it before. Raph could probably explain what the feeling was right away, and although it took Leo a little longer to recognise it before he drifted away into a comfortable sleep, he too could give this feeling a name: Anger.

1:03pm…

It has been weeks of non-stop training with not much rest, and as a result of this mornings 'training', the four turtles now had messed up sleeping patterns. For most people, a messed up sleeping pattern can be easily overcome if they had enough of it to go by, but for the four brothers, this was the first time they had a messed up sleeping pattern.

Leo was in their makeshift living room, practising his katas behind the sofa. On the sofa was Raph, reading a comic to try and help him relax. The four brothers had a good nap, but when they woke up, they were hardly relaxed, in fact, they were more stressed. The TV was on and showcased another Space Heroes episode which at this point featured Captain Ryan yelling at a councilman for his poor decision that nearly got him and his crew killed. Leo loved the show, but for some reason he felt compelled to walk over to the TV and turned it off. Raph half expected Leo to sit in front of the TV and start fanboying over how cool it is.

"Woah, Leo. I didn't know you hated the show as well!" Raph said with heavy sarcasm,

"I don't hate it, Raph. I'm just not in the right mood is all." Leo said truthfully. For him, his favourite show could be enjoyed the best when he's in a good mood, but not in the foul mood he found himself in now.

"That must be saying something. You're always acting like Splinter-junior, so I never really know what bad-mood-Leo looks like!" Raph said half sarcastically and half truthfully.

"I don't act like Splinter…!" Leo said half defensively. Raph was expected to hear something like "We must always be ready to learn from him" or something along those lines, not a defensive response from Leo saying he didn't act like their Sensei/ father figure. Raph put down his comic and approached Leo with concern on his face,

"Leo? Are you relly not alright?" but before Leo could answer Raph's question-

"HEY RAPH!" Raph turned his head to where Mikey shouted for him from only to-

 _*SPLASH*_

A water balloon to the face, the splash soaking Raph from his head and all over his plastron and some dribbles on his legs. Mikey bounced the water balloons in his hands and he also bounced about gleefully,

"Dr Prankenstein strikes again!" Mikey said happily and with a big smile on his face. Raph however didn't feel the same way. His eyes turned white for a moment and he looked ready to throw Mikey into anything hard. "Dude, you should see your face right now! Haha! You look soooo mad!" Mikey said in a teasing manner. Raph's eyes returned to normal as he turned his head to Leo,

"Alright, Leo. This will put you in a good mood!" Raph said as he cracked his knuckles before he pounced at Mikey. Mikey lightly screamed before running off screaming again. "COME HERE, YOU!" Raph shouted before beginning yet another heated-merry cat and mouse chase with Mikey.

1:18pm…

The cat and mouse chase didn't last too long, and it ended with Mikey getting a comically large bump on his head and soaked from head to toe with water. Raph must have pelted him with his own water balloons. Raph was right earlier- Leo's mood did lighten. After the heated-merry chase around the Lair, the three decided to check up on Donnie, since he hadn't come out of his lab since he woke up earlier.

Inside the lab…

The was still a work in progress but it was becoming more and more like a personal workshop with chemicals. When they got inside, they saw Donnie wearing a protective welding helmet and using a blowtorch on what looked like a large go-kart. Donnie had been working on this project of his for weeks now.

"You still working on that go-kart?" Raph asked which somehow annoyed Donnie,

"It's not a go-kart!" Donnie said and then pointed to the blueprints on the table, "It's an all-terrain patrol buggy with detachable side cars!" Donnie said with pride.

"Dude, hasn't Splinter been driving us hard enough? You gotta find a way to relax." Mikey said and it was then that he noticed a bowl of eggs on the table next to the blueprints, but the eggs looked like they had been tampered with, "And this is where all of my eggs have been going? What are you doing to my babies?" Mikey wailed comically before Donnie answered with a deadpan face,

"That's another project, Mikey." Donnie said,

"Dude! My eggs are meant for making my delicious omelettes and other eggy stuff. Not so you could turn them into whatever they are now!" Mikey comically wailed again and also waving his arms in every which way. This earned him a light smack to the head courtesy of Raph for nearly hitting him with his arms.

"Anyway…" Leo said so as to continue to help with this brotherly atmosphere that he felt was crucial for their own family dynamic, "As for your earlier question, we all deal with stress in different ways, Mikey" Leo said and then Donnie replied with pride in his voice,

"Yeah, building stuff is how I deal." Donnie said with a slight smile. Mikey perked up with a grin on his face and the comically large bump on his head mysteriously gone again,

"And this is how I deal- "Mikey then pulled a water balloon from out of nowhere and threw it directly at Leo. He reacts quickly by ducking down but left Donnie in the line of (fire?), resulting in Donnie with a soaked face and the slight smile replaced with an annoyed frown. Mikey was giddy at this moment but Donnie responded by removing his safety helmet and began another annoyed-merry chase with Mikey around the Lair.

"You're next Leo! Dr Prankenstein makes house calls!" Mikey announced as Donnie chased him throughout the Lair. Even stressful times like the one they found themselves in were no match for Mikey's hair-brained but always cheerful antics.

2:56pm… New York City… Abandoned Warehouse… Eastman Land…

Angel was at inside the back of the warehouse, and after weeks of being homeless, she was finally beginning to find a routine in her new life. She wasn't alone as Casey was with her, with nothing left to do today, they simply waited (and exercised) the day away until nightfall came so that they could do their vigilante duo work. The silence between them was broken as Casey's T-Phone started to ring. When Casey looked at the I.D to see who was calling him, he saw that it was one of the Purple Dragons calling him.

 _(FLASHBACK)_

 _June 1_ _st_ _… 2012… New York City… Alley… 10:02pm…_

 _A decision had been made. Earlier they had been fighting to save their new favourite blind human chef, now they were being offered to have spies under their command. Leo had decided that he and Casey should be the ones to negotiate terms and conditions with the three members of the Purple Dragons. Reason being was because Raph would probably pick a fight with them first and then there would be no negotiations because they would be out cold. Donnie wasn't here because even though he would be capable of helping with negotiating, he didn't bother because he became too engrossed in another of his projects. Mikey wasn't here because… he was Mikey, plain and simple. They didn't really care to learn their names but introductions were made anyway. They learned of their names; the scrawniest of the three was called 'Fong', the biggest of the group was called 'Sid' and the one with the moustache was called 'Tsoi'. For being Purple Dragons, both Leo and Casey thought of them as losers, but even they could be useful for gathering intel. Leo and Casey (in his vigilante gear), stood across from the three Purple Dragons, the reason why Casey was here is because Leo said that they would need someone to relay whatever information the Purple Dragons had to him and his brothers, they couldn't allow Purple Dragons into the Lair._

" _You know why we're here." Leo said in his leader mode, "We're here to discuss terms and conditions. You want to help us? That's fine. But there are rules we want you to follow." Leo said, and even though they were just talking, the Purple Dragons felt tense,_

" _We will allow you to get away with petty crimes. But if you hurt anyone, our deal will be off, and we will come after you." Leo said in a tone that said this wasn't up for debate. The three Purple Dragons looked at each other nervously, but nodded at Leo in understanding._

" _Good. Now that that's cleared…" Casey said before pulling out two T-Phones from his pockets, he then approached the Purple Dragon called Fong and handed him one of the T-Phones, "This is a custom-made phone. It uses a line that is off the rails and untraceable. That means you cannot track the line to find us." Fong looked at the phone for a second before Casey continued, "I will have the other phone, meaning you will hand any information about the Purple Dragons and the Foot to me." Casey said,_

" _What if our cover is blown? What then?" Fong asked,_

" _If your cover is blown, let us know as soon as you can. We will come for you. You can continue your lives as Purple Dragons but I repeat: do not hurt anyone." Leo said sternly. The Purple Dragons had now officially made the deal._

(End of Flashback)

Present time… The Lair… 3:03pm…

Three of the four turtles stood in the middle of the Lair, Leo stood across from Raph and Mikey. Leo had earlier said that they needed to train some more and ordered this session,

"Where's Donnie?" Mikey asked,

"He said he will join us soon." Leo said and then with that, training was in session,

"Poko noko mai." Leo said and he took a fighting stance as did Mikey but Raph just stood defiantly with his arms crossed. Leo looked annoyed at this act of defiance,

"Raph, Poko noko mai!" Leo repeated to try and get Raph to train but he was having none of it.

"Poko no way! It's bad enough that Splinter's driving us into the ground. Now you too?" Raph said while Leo and Mikey stood from their fighting stances,

"Raph, we have to keep training because right now, we don't stand a chance against Shredder." Leo said,

"Yeah and he's up there… somewhere… waiting for us!" Mikey said as he somehow put on a creepy smile and demented looking eyes as if to add some kind of Halloween vibe to it but just ended up scaring himself, "I just freaked myself out!"

"Right… so the reason why we're still alive is because we're still hiding down here. Which means we have to get better." Leo said as he tried to reason with Raph but he just fought back,

"No. The reason why were still here is because Splinter has become overbearing and unreasonable. Not like we can do anything about that, he'll just make us do more 'training' to try and prove a point." Raph said and was again almost surprised when Leo didn't defend their Sensei's actions. But they didn't have the time left to discuss it any further because they were interrupted by the arrival of Donnie carrying a bowl of his experimented eggs.

"Check it out, guys!" Donnie announced as he approached his brothers, "We are about to take our ninjutsu to a whole new level!" Donnie said excitedly and didn't give his brothers a chance to ask why as he continued on, "I've been experimenting and this project works!" he said as he held up one of his experimental eggs up in the air for all to see, "I've now got the ability to make… Ninja Smoke Bombs!" Donnie's announcement was followed by himself slamming the egg into the ground and then disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. His brothers were amazed at the sight and then were again when Donnie reappeared in another puff of purple smoke on the bridge in the centre on the Lair.

"Woah…" his brothers said at the same time, all four turtles had smiles on their faces at this achievement but Donnie wasn't done yet,

"Now to make 'em, I carefully drilled in hole on either side, slowly blew out the contents, wait for the inside to dry, and then poured in flash powder and sealed the holes with super glue." Donnie explained and for the first time, Raph was just as excited as Mikey was,

"Blah, blah, science blah! Do it again!" Raph asked excitedly but Donnie explained further since he didn't get the reasoning behind his explanation,

"What I'm trying to say is that they take a long time to make. So, use them sparingly." Donnie said but Mikey missed the 'sparingly' part of the explanation as he was suddenly by Donnie's side and then grabbed a handful of the newly made ninja smoke bombs. "Mikey, wait!" but it was too late as Mikey slammed one egg and disappeared in a puff of smoke and then reappeared next to his brothers,

"This- ""-is the coolest thing- ""-ever!" Mikey said in between disappearing and reappearing in a puff of smoke around various parts of the Lair, much to the annoyance of Donnie,

"Mikey! Stop!" but Mikey once again disappeared in a puff of smoke and then reappeared behind Donnie and wrapped an arm around Donnie's shoulders,

"I love you man! _*SMOOCH*_ Seriously!" Mikey gave Donnie a light smooch on the cheek.

"…um…" once again there was an interruption, this time from Casey as he had entered the Lair via the elevator at point when Mikey was showing off his disappearing and reappearing acts around the Lair.

"Casey? How long have you been there?" Raph asked when turned to face Casey by the elevator.

"Since Mikey's smoke tricks! That was awesome, dude!" Casey complimented Mikey,

"Thanks, dude!"

"Anyway, Casey, what's up?" Leo asked and Casey, in response pulled out his T-phone and Leo knew what this meant.

"So, our Purple Dragon spies have some info for us." Casey said. This earned the attention of everyone and before long, the turtles and Master Splinter conveyed around Casey to listen what info he had.

"Okay so, our spies say that the Shredder is planning a meeting with them at their headquarters. Something about an assignment." Casey said,

"So… what? They want us to kick their butts and stop the Shredder's newest plan?" Raph wittingly said with a smirk on his face but got a slight stern look from Leo,

"You would like that wouldn't ya, Raph?" Casey said before continuing on, "Anyway, they also said that the Shredder claims that you guys live in the sewers somewhere and that it's all he needs to know." Casey said and then the turtles and Splinter took a moment to break the silence, starting with Donnie.

"Well, he's only half right. Yes, we're in the sewers but we're technically in the abandoned tunnels section of it. Far from any sewer." Donnie said to which Leo added in,

"Right, but whatever he's planning next, I think it's right to assume that people are going to get hurt again. If the Wolf Hotel has taught us anything." Leo said. Though Raph was sceptical about this info,

"Guys, this is only the first time we've heard from our 'spies'. How can we trust anything they say?" Raph said, and it was a valid point seeing as they were getting information from a trio of criminals.

"Raph's right. We should go topside and wait for them. They talk about their assignment and then whatever it is, we stop it." Leo said, but a certain Ninja Master protested to this idea,

"And what if the Shredder attacks you again?" Splinter said, which Leo responded against Splinter,

"You're not seriously suggesting that we stay here and wait? We need to learn what he's planning sooner rather than later." Leo was growing less surprised with himself talking _at_ his Sensei but it none the less earned a slight frown from Splinter and surprised looks from everyone else. Splinter frowned but reluctantly agreed.

"Very well." Splinter sounded put off by this seemingly new attitude that Leo developed out of nowhere but with that, the turtles and Casey set off to meet with their spies.

3:23pm… New York City… Tattoo Parlour… Alley…

One of the good things about walking in the middle of the day for the turtles, was that the daylight also provided some good shadows to hide in. In this case, the alley behind a tattoo Parlour was in complete darkness, even with the hot sun shining in the sky. The reason why they were behind a Tattoo Parlour was because Casey said that their supposed spies always come to this place every day.

Though perhaps the added stress that Splinter gave them altered their reactions too much, as it was evident when Donnie accidently backed into a bin and the resulting sound made Mikey jump out of his skin.

"Mikey?" Leo said in concern,

"Sorry! All that Splinter talk about how we aren't ready has me thinking: maybe we're in over our heads." Mikey said which earned him a light bump on the head from Raph.

"You're always in over your head." Raph said and then Mikey spoke up in his defence,

"I'm saying now we _all_ are! And that scares me!" Mikey said as he whimpered it a little. Leo placed a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder, he himself felt angry that this fear that Mikey was having wasn't brought onto him by Shredder, but Splinter.

"It's okay to the be scared, Mikey. Raph is scared too." Leo said to try and lighten the mood but Raph just spoke up a little too quickly at this statement,

"I am not scared." Raph said as he then resumed to wait for their spies. Leo decided to lighten the mood even more by snaking a hand behind Raph's head and gently poked him on the head. This resulted in Raph yelping and jumping out of his skin as well. The other three turtles lightly giggled at this while Raph lightly cleared his throat and then glared at Leo. But the glare only lasted a second before the sound of heavy dog growling closed in on them, followed by the sight of a huge dog like mutant. The mutant had a huge upper body with a large head, its left arm was also big and looked to be all muscle, its right arm comically shorter than the left but both looked to have some sort of hardened fur like armour on the hands, the left one protruding spikes at the end of the knuckles and shoulder. Its legs were bulky and almost humanoid in shape, except for the feet that resembled paws and the mutant was wearing a pair of red ninja trousers. Its body was covered in a light brown fur with a white patch down its chest and muzzle.

"Look what I found. Four soon to be dead turtles." Its voice sounded out in a growl but beyond that, the turtles recognised its voice.

"Bradford?" Leo said what his brothers were thinking.

"Surprised that the fall from the hotel roof didn't kill me? I can't explain it either, but I don't care." Mutant Bradford said. Sure, unlike Leo who had his fall broken by a conveniently placed truck, the same couldn't be said for him and Xever, there was no way those two could've survived a fall like that, but they would debate about it later. The four turtles backed further into the alley as Bradford approached them as they pulled out their weapons. Leo was ready, Raph surprisingly a little less so but Donnie and Mikey were almost stressing out. Bradford continued approaching them, scraping his left fur-like spikes across the ground.

"He's huge!" Mikey commented,

"Then I'll cut him down to size!" Leo said in response to the comment and charged at Bradford from the side of the alley, he jumped up at Bradford's large head and swings his twin katana at him, Bradford reacts by swaying back with a little difficulty, and tried to swat Leo away with his right arm, though gravity saved Leo and when he landed in the ground, Bradford threw a very strong and heavy fist at Leo but Leo jumps back a little and then Bradford once again swings the same arm down at Leo like a hammer. But Leo jumps back even further and joined his brothers, while Bradford's hammer fist slammed into the ground, cracking it and creating a head sized crater. From this, Leo could tell what was happening to Bradford.

"Guys, the mutation has given him a freakish amount of strength in his left arm, but he's still not used to his new body, this has made him a bit clumsy." Leo said and then the four turtles scattered in different directions when Bradford slammed another hammer fist down onto the ground that they were just standing on, slightly losing his balance as he did so. Raph saw this opportunity before them and took the initiative and lunged both his sai at Bradford, but Bradford responded by blocking the sai with his bare right hand. The sound the twin sai made against Bradford's hand resembled metal scraping against stone. The two were trying to overpower the other, when Donnie charged in with his steel staff and jabbed Bradford's chin with it, he couldn't help it when he clumsily stepped back, giving Raph and Donnie time to jump back and out the way for Leo to come in overhead to attack by thrusting his twin katana down on Bradford. But Bradford reacted quickly by catching the blades with his armoured right hand, Leo struggled to get his swords out from Bradford's grip and only managed to do so when Bradford tried to uppercut Leo with his huge left hand but Leo leaped out of the way just in time. Mikey was next, his used one of his nunchucks to zipline on one of the washing lines straight towards Bradford but as he closed in, Bradford merely swatted him away with his right hand. Mikey ended up being slammed into Donnie and a wall before the two landed in a heap on the ground.

"This is hopeless!" Donnie said, but at the pace they were going, Leo silently agreed, given how his brothers were thinking and stressing.

"Keep your head in this fight!" Leo ordered before all four turtles once again had to dodge Bradford's big hand punch. The four turtles were backed further into the alley.

"I just wanna keep my head on by body!" Donnie retorted.

"C'mon, what are we retreating for?" Raph asked before charging at Bradford only to be smashed into an empty dumpster with Bradford's large left hand. "That's a good reason…"

Raph exited the dumpster and re-joined his brothers just as Leo made his next order,

"Mikey, smoke!" Leo ordered and when Mikey pulled out one of their newly made ninja smoke bombs, but he was too stressed and dropped it. The egg smashed and weakly smoked out, barely enough for a small mouse to escape in.

"What was that?" Raph demanded of Mikey.

"I'm stressed! Excuse me if my aim's a little off." Mikey defended. Leo realised that the added stress was going to help Bradford beat them if he let this continue.

"This isn't working." Leo said before pulling out another smoke bomb and forcefully smashed it against the ground, resulting in a large cloud of purple smoke which they easily escaped through. When the smoke cleared, Bradford found that he was alone in the alley and he himself left it seeing as there was nothing to do there.

4:00pm… The Lair…

Frustration. That was probably the only word to describe how the four ninja turtles were feeling. On a scale of one to ten, this was the amount of frustration each turtle was feeling: Mikey-five, Donnie-five, Raph-eight and Leo-nine. Leo more so than his brothers because of his added and growing anger towards Splinter for being responsible for this unwanted stress.

The four turtles sat around at their makeshift living room, Mikey lying on his plastron on the sofa, Raoh leaning on the armchair that Donnie sat on and Leo sat on the armrest of the sofa. Their three human friends approached them a few moments ago and soon after, so did Master Splinter. Leo kept his cool as he approached,

"We couldn't take him…" Leo said as he referred to Bradford.

"Dogpound was just too powerful." Mikey said,

"Dogpound?" Leo asked of Mikey.

"What? 'Cuz he's a dog and he pounded us into the- "Mikey's explanation was interrupted when Leo caught onto the meaning of the name,

"We get it. But it wasn't as if he was too strong for us." Leo said and though Mikey didn't catch on, Raph and Donnie understood what Leo was talking about. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until if our 'spies' will tell us what happened in the meeting." Leo finished. He was close to not let his frustrations out but it was then that Splinter spoke up.

"In the meantime, we should train and prepare for the mission ahead." Splinter said. Train. Something with Leo snapped at that point, he never thought the word 'training' sounded so unwelcoming.

"What? NO!" Leo shouted out, surprising everyone in the room including Splinter mostly, "We do not need training to take on 'Dogpound', just some preparation. And we certainly don't need _you_ to help Shredder beat us by training us into exhaustion and to the point of stressing out too much! We would've been perfectly capable of beating Dogpound but because of your medieval methods of 'training', even Foot Soldiers will be able to take us down!" Leo was yelling at Splinter, his frustrations finally taking their toll on him, but he just glared at his Sensei while everybody looked on absolutely flabbergasted. That was until Master Splinter spoke up while keeping a gaze on Leo,

"Leonardo- "Splinter tried to speak up but Leo interrupted him, surprising everyone even more,

"NO! Don't 'Leonardo' me! If you're going to keep training us to the point where we can barely stand, we won't be able to fight a single Foot Soldier, never mind the Shredder!" Leo was not taking anything from Splinter at this point and all the other occupants could hardly believe it.

"Leonardo- "Splinter tried to speak up again but was again interrupted by an angry Leo.

"HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU EXPECT US TO DO BETTER IF YOU CAN'T GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR GOD DAMN ASS BY BEING A FUCKING DRILL SERGEANT INSTEAD OF YOUR USUAL WAY OF BEING OUR SENSEI?" Leo yelled out the top of his lungs and stunned everyone in the Lair with his yelling at Splinter and the way he cursed at him and finishing it with a hard glare at Splinter. He tried not to show it, but Splinter failed not to show his amazement and disbelief. He expected this sort of yelling and eventual bad language from Raph at some point later on in life but never from Leo.

…

…

…

 _*RING**RING*_

"Oh hey! Our spies came through for us!" Casey said as his T-Phone rang, indicating that their Purple Dragon spies did their job as they intended for them, no-one wasted any time shuffling to Casey to try and break away from the atmosphere that Leo created and seconds after they did, Leo joined them, though they didn't even try to object when he stood beside them. Splinter stood stunned, but even then, he would still listen to whatever was going to happen next.

"You're on speakerphone." Casey said as he answered the T-Phone.

" _Hey, so here's what happened…"_ It was the Purple Dragon called Fong speaking. _"The Shredder says that there's a chemical truck transporting something called 'Chlorosulfonic Acid'. He wants us and that dog mutant he calls Bradford to steal it."_ Fong's explanation made Donnie go a little pale at this information.

"Okay, when is it coming over?" Casey asked,

" _The truck will be the city at around eleven o'clock. Also, Shredder said that the chemical is extremely rare, so we will not have a second chance."_ Fong answered.

"Okay, thanks for that." Casey said as he turned the call off. All in the Lair looked to Donnie since they noticed his reaction to the information.

"Donnie. What's he talking about? What is 'Chlorosulfonic Acid'." Leo asked to which Donnie immediately answered,

"Leo, Chlorosulfonic Acid has a very violent reaction to water!" Donnie explained and then something clicked in everyone's minds (minus Mikey),

"So, wait… if he dumps that stuff in the sewer…" Raph said to start the explanation to which Donnie finished.

"The acid will cause it all to be incinerated in seconds! Even though we won't be affected by it, the whole sewer system will be heavily damaged and then some parts of the city won't be able to support itself!" Donnie all but said in a worried tone. And why not? The Shredder was once again uncaring about millions who were going to be affected the worst in his plans to kill his enemies.

"This city will never recover from something like that! We gotta stop them!" Leo ordered with worry in his voice but there was also determination to make sure this doesn't happen.

"Donnie, prep the go-karts. We may have to chase that truck down ourselves!" Leo ordered.

"Leo… it's a patrol buggy. But yeah." Donnie answered with slight annoyance that his latest invention wasn't getting the recognition he thought it should have, but he still walked over to his lab to get his patrol buggy up into the warehouse.

6:00pm…

Dinner was quiet and tense, no-one said a word. Raph, Donnie and Mikey were lightly picking at their food but ate albeit with the tension weighing them down. Leo and Splinter also ate in silence, though because the tension mostly revolved around them but didn't do anything to lessen it, the tension soon grew so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

10:00pm…

Leo, Donnie and Raph were pushing the patrol buggy to the elevator, and as soon as they entered the elevator along with Mikey and the buggy, silence overtook the Lair as the humans inside were still trying to piece together what happened earlier.

"So… um… did Leo and Raph switch personalities or something?" Casey asked and all April and Angel could do was shrug their shoulders as all three tried to avoid Splinter's gaze. Splinter all the while was replaying Leo's sudden outburst inside his head. Should he be mad at Leo? Should he be insulted?

…

…

Should he feel somewhat proud of Leo?

10:34pm… New York City… Alley…

Silence. Again. No-one said a word once again even though they were now out of the Lair. The four turtles sat in all four seats that the patrol buggy had and all were wearing different headsets. Leo wore a blue hardened plastic racing helm, Raph wore a red American football helmet, Donnie wore a black racing helm and Mikey wore a brown old style flying helm. Though despite the colourful headgear, nothing seemed to dispel the silent tension in the air. Raph, Donnie and Mikey were all sitting in different parts of the buggy but the silence just kept reminding them of who was sitting at the wheel of the buggy. None of them knew if Leo even had a temper and a fuse to go with it, but if anyone knew how that was like, it was Raph.

"So… Fearless…" Raph said, breaking the ice. A while ago the nickname he gave Leo was of a mocking reminder of how he nearly had a mental breakdown at what he assumed to be a kill by his hands, now the nickname he felt was for standing up to Splinter when nobody else could, "… never thought you knew how to swear. Never mind in Splinter's face." Raph said and his attempt to break the ice was rewarded with a drawn-out sigh from Leo,

"I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have done what I did… it wasn't right." Leo said but Raph protested,

"Hey, we all do and say things we don't mean when we're angry, bro." Leo would've made an argument to protest but didn't get the chance to as he then spotted a black van with a familiar mutant dog riding on the back of it, speeding across the road.

"There they are! Let's go!" Leo ordered before he slammed on the accelerator and the buggy's engine roared to life.

To say that Mikey was having the time of his life riding in the buggy would be an understatement, he was shouting in delight, completely oblivious to Leo's statement that the buggy was a great build. However, Donnie disagreed with Leo on that,

"It's not ready!" but it was drowned out by Mikey's delightful cheers followed by,

"This thing is awesome! Does it have a radio?" Mikey asked excitedly to which Donnie answered with irritation in his voice,

"No, it doesn't have a radio! I'm telling ya, it's not ready!" Donnie said before Leo changed gears and the buggy accelerated even faster.

"Seems ready to me." Leo said before he accidently pulled the steering wheel of, surprising him but didn't wait for the buggy to veer off and crash and hastily put it back in place, "…er… okay, don't fall on that, and we'll be fine!" Leo said with a stunned smile. The four turtles were chasing down a Foot Patrol unit, using a black van, in a buggy that could fall apart on them at any moment or veer off and crash into a (with their luck) tree or a lamppost. The two most likely things for a vehicle to crash into for some strange reason.

Although the turtles were gaining on the van, it was the Foot that reached the moving tanker full of Chlorosulfonic Acid first. They did this by stopping in the middle of the road cutting off the truck driver's route at a crossroad section. The driver of the tanker was more than surprised when a huge dog mutant stood at the crossroad and he slammed on the brakes, stopping directly in front of Bradford/Dogpound. The mutant calmly walked over to the driver's door and using his drastically increased strength, he ripped the door off its hinges like it was paper. The driver let out a surprised and fearful scream.

"Get. Out." Dogpound sound in his roughened voice. He sounded threatening and the driver didn't need to be told twice as he scrambled out of the van and to who knows where. One of the Foot Soldiers exited the black van and then climbed into the driver's seat of the tanker. Dogpound grabbed a hold of the tanker as the soldier began to drive it.

"Call Shredder. Tell him we've acquired the tanker and we're on our way. No problems encountered." Dogpound ordered but before it could be carried out, the turtles rounded a corner in their patrol buggy and was headed straight for the tanker.

"Hold that call! Run them down." Dogpound ordered and the soldier held onto the accelerator and drove forward.

"Raph, get ready." Leo ordered as the truck headed for them. Their little buggy wouldn't stand a chance against that huge tanker, although Raph didn't get what Leo was referring to when he said to get ready.

"For what?" he asked.

"This." Leo said before he pulled on a lever and separated the buggy in two, dividing himself and Donnie from Raph and Mikey. Raph scrambled his hands onto his own steering wheel as his own half nearly swerved off. Lucky for all of them that the truck drove directly in between the divided buggy. The two turtles then did a U-turn and then proceeded to chase after the tanker. Raph felt the need to chase and shout at Leo.

"Leo! You could've been a little more specific!" Raph said but Leo just gave a big smile, he thought that was fun

"Where's the fun in that?" Leo said as he grinned and then the grin faded as he gave his next order, "We have to get that tanker away from them, fire grappling hooks!" Leo said before he fired a grappling hook from the front of his side of the buggy and Raph likewise did the same. The hooks grabbed onto the back of the tanker but when they slowed down to try and slow down the tanker, the tanker sped away and the hooks became disconnected from there buggies.

"I told you it wasn't ready!" Donnie shouted at Leo,

"I know…!"

10:50pm…

It was a little while before the Foot found a manhole cover and the tanker skidded to a stop. Dogpound jumped from the tanker, skidding across the road and toward the sewer entrance as he did so, he then lifted the manhole cover and then threw it like a Frisbee towards the turtles. The flying manhole cover flew to Leo and Donnie and they jumped from out of the buggy just as the flying manhole cover smashed into their buggy, destroying it. The two landed on the road, safely on their two feet, Raph braked to a stop next the two.

"Raph, carry on with Mikey, Donnie and I will keep Dogpound busy. You get that tanker away from them, and make sure that they don't use it again." Leo ordered before Dogpound charged at the turtles,

"How?" Raph asked at which Leo quickly answered,

"Remember what Donnie said about this stuff!" he then charged at Dogpound with Donnie to meet him head on while Raph sped past them in the remaining half of the buggy.

Leo and Donnie jumped into the air and came down upon Dogpound, he responded by hitting Donnie away with an uppercut and then had to guard quickly against Leo's twin katana. The armoured fur on his left arm doing well to protect his skin. It was then that Donnie landed on the road on his shell, as Leo landed on his feet, he had to step back and sway back as Dogpound came in with a few punches before landing one on Leo's chin, knocking him onto his shell, it was then that Donnie came flying in with a flying side kick onto Dogpound's chest, knocking him back slightly, he then bounced off a lamppost for another attack only for Dogpound to swing his big left arm and swatted him away. Leo came in for another onslaught but was instead punched away from right arm swing.

At the crossroad, Raph and Mikey arrived just in time as one of the Foot Soldiers, pulled a hole from the tanker that would release the acid, but when they did, two more Foot Soldiers plus Fong, the Purple Dragon and one of their spies emerged from the van.

"This won't be hard. Let's club these guys!" Raph said,

"Wait, who made you leader?" Mikey said in protest but before he could protest any further, Raph leaped from the vehicle and attacked without Mikey. It was himself versus two Foot Ninjas and a Purple Dragon. Easy. It was then that the other Foot Ninja had just finished leading the hose's end inside the manhole cover. From where he stood, Mikey would be able to catch and stop the ninja in time, and so, he dashed past the fighting that had started and headed straight for the ninja.

"Hyyaaa!" Mikey shouted as he attacked the ninja just as he was about to touch the hose and he attacked with a leaping front kick, it smacked the ninja in the face, knocking him away from the tanker and onto his side. Just as he was about to get up and retaliate, Mikey smacked him in the head with his nunchucks, rendering the ninja unconscious. It was then that Raph approached him from behind,

"So, what took ya so long, Mikey?" Raph said with a smirk, to which Mikey replied with an equal amount of sarcasm,

"Oh, you know, Raph… he didn't stay down after the first hit!" Mikey said with a cheeky grin, and looking past Raph, he saw two unconscious ninjas lying on the road but no sign of Fong. "Where's Fong?"

"Sent him packing." Raph said and was momentarily distracted by the fighting between Leo and Donnie versus Dogpound before he turned back to the tanker, just missing the sight of Leo and Donnie's dodging from Dogpound throwing a light car at them as if it were a school chair. "Leo said to make sure the Foot don't use this again. How do we do that?"

"You're asking me? Dude, I'm not really a science-y guy, in case you didn't know." Mikey said in exasperation. Raph just groaned,

"I know, shell-for-brains! I was- "but then Raph remembered what it was that Donnie said about the acid. In short, it was highly dangerous with water added. "Mikey! Use the water balloon!" Raph barked out but Mikey just looked oblivious, like he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar,

"…er… what water balloon?" Mikey said, though he was never going to win the award for best liar.

"The one that you're oh so subtly hiding behind your shell." Raph said as he jumped up onto the tanker and undid the lid on the end of the tanker, revealing a hole that the water balloon would easily fit and fall through.

"Dude… you are good." Mikey said as he readied his throwing arm, giving Raph the cue to get off, which he did. Mikey then threw the balloon and it headed straight for the hole in the tanker, and Raph wasted no time in yanking his brother by the wrist and pulling him away from the inevitable explosion.

Leo and Donnie had just bounced off of Dogpound (whose back was now to the tanker), ready to continue when Raph and Mikey ran right past all three of them.

"RUN!" Raph shouted and just when Leo and Donnie were about to turn tail and run-

* _ **BOOM***_

The shockwave that emanated was strong enough to make the four turtles stumble and fall onto their knees for a second, but nothing more. Though the same couldn't be said for Dogpound, as the explosion knocked him forward. He quickly got back up and looked behind him at the destruction. His failure. But when he looked to the turtles looking for some payback, the four turtles were nowhere to be seen. His Master Shredder was going to give him some severe punishment for this failure for sure.

Far away on a rooftop…

Even from a distance, the smoke that towered up to the sky would most likely be seen by the entire city. The four turtles looked on realised how lucky they were that the only ones caught up in the explosion were the Foot. Just before leaving, they made a quick check for casualties. Even though they were sure that there were a few unconscious Foot Soldiers near the tanker, there were no casualties. Leo turned to Raph and Mikey,

"Great job you- "

 _*SPLASH*_

Leo was about to complement his brothers when he got an a very unexpected water balloon to the face, thrown by Mikey.

"Dr Prankenstein for the win!" Mikey announced with his 'achievement smile', but Leo looked a little bemused,

"You had two? Where do you keep them?" Leo said, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Raph and Donnie had similar reactions and Mikey decided to answer vaguely,

"Where? Dude, did you forget already? I'm a ninja, dawg! I've got hidden weapons just like you do!" Mikey said with a cheeky grin and then began to walk away, back home.

"Wait up!" Leo said as he and he brothers walked with Mikey, all smiling at their heroics in saving the city, again.

11:19pm… The Lair…

The trip back to the Lair was met only with smiles and cheers. With the occasional grunts as they wheeled the two halves of the patrol buggy back home for Donnie to fix and upgrade. For Raph, Donnie and Mikey, the laughs and cheers continued even as they entered their home. Though for Leo, home meant having to face Splinter at some point and seeing as how Master and Student left things, there was bound to be a conversation about it. Leo was angry with Splinter and he made that clear, thus this made him worry slightly about what Splinter would have for him in terms of punishment. He was sure that would happen.

"My sons." Master Splinter said as he then approached his sons, all stood to attention. "Relax, my sons. I owe you only congratulations. But more than that, I owe you my apologies." Master Splinter said as he looked solemn in that moment.

"Sensei?"

"Fear clouded my judgements and my actions, and it caused you unnecessary stress and exhaustion. But it was not the Shredder that who fuelled this, but me. You all overcame this and performed valiantly. No training tomorrow!" Master Splinter announced, and along with cheers that they were getting a day off of training, they were also met with confusion that someone they look up to has admitted to making mistakes to them. But it just also made them learn that even the ones they idolize can make mistakes. Although, when Splinter turned his back to head for his room, it didn't stop him from hearing certain swishes of water from a certain ninja turtle.

"Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon." Master Slinter said calmly, in an almost deadpan voice. Mikey sheepishly smiled as he lowered the water balloon, but still earned scowls from his brothers.

"You are so gonna get it!" Raph announced as he, Leo and Donnie all pounced on him. What followed next was Leo and Donnie pinning Mikey to the floor as Raph 'dropped' Mikey's own water balloon onto his face. Splinter was delighted that the family dynamic wasn't destroyed by his own actions, and he silently vowed to never again let himself do that again. And to ensure this…

"Leonardo, I would like a word with you, please." Master Splinter said and Leo was done laughing for a bit as he stood up. Mikey also stood and standing with Raph and Donnie as Leo walked away to Splinter's room,

"Dude, Leo's a goner." Mikey said,

"Oh yeah. Too bad we don't have popcorn. But I still wanna listen, wanna come with?" Raph asked,

"Dude, I'm so in on that!" Mikey replied,

"Guys, that sounds childish and immature. Let's do it!" Donnie agreed and with that, they creeped over to listen in on Splinter and Leo's conversation.

Inside Splinter's room…

The inside of Splinter's room was like a mini dojo; no four post beds, no chairs, no desks. The only thing inside were a few unlit candles, a Japanese style bed and his memorial shrine to his deceased wife and baby girl.

When the two entered the bedroom, they wasted no time in kneeling in front of each other on some cushions. With his eyes closed, Leo nearly mistook Splinter for meditating. Though given the atmosphere, it was easy to see why.

"Leonardo."

Leo's attention was seized then and he focused solely on Splinter's closed eyes as if to try and establish eye contact. He got it when Splinter opened his eyes.

"I am assuming you know why you are here now." Splinter asked and Leo nodded before saying,

"Hai, Sensei. This is about me losing a temper I didn't know I had, and taking it out on you." Leo said as he lowered his head in shame. True, he was here for his blow up at Splinter, but not for the reasons he was thinking.

"Yes. You are. But not for the reasons you are thinking." Splinter said which made Leo up and into his eyes.

"Sensei?"

"Please. No need for that now." Splinter said. It was then that this moment wasn't between Master and Student, but Father and Son.

"I am not here to lecture you on your temper, Leonardo. For it was I who fuelled that temper in the first place. Therefore, I have no right to do such a thing." For Leo, he felt like tensions were being lessened here and now, and he felt more at ease around Splinter now.

"When you yelled at me, I was hurt… but it was justified." Now Leo was surprised.

"Se-Father. No, I was wrong, I shouldn't have done that." Leo said to try and put the blame on himself and not Splinter.

"No, I was the one who was wrong, Leonardo. You and your brothers went through the troubles that resulted from my fears. Leonardo, my lesson for you now is to learn that even I can and will make mistakes. It's what makes us human, after all." Splinter said, almost smiling at the 'human' part. "Leonardo, if or when such a thing does happen again, you have my consent to stand up to me again." Leo was more than stunned at what Splinter was proposing to him, he was literally giving him permission to argue with him. Him! His own Sensei and father figure.

"What! But, Father… I…" Leo couldn't find the words,

"Leonardo, I understand your disbelief and confusion, but know this: today, when you stood up to me, you were a much person than me as a person. Do not be afraid to do so again if or when the time should come again." Splinter said, and then stood up from where he was and then motioned for Leo do stand as well. "Today, I saw something rise from within you, and wasn't your temper. Today I saw, as clear as day, the soul of a truly fierce and wonderful young man, who would do the impossible for his family. And a young man with a truly blessed heart." Once Splinter said this with all the pride he could muster, Leo felt his eyes beginning to water slightly. Then nothing mattered to him at that point, he was just glad that he could share this moment with his father, and he thought of nothing as he rushed in and wrapped his arms around Splinter in a tight hug. Given his father's height, he was practically buried in his father's chest and Splinter himself, returned Leo's hug.

Outside…

All three of the turtles who were eavesdropping were quite disappointed that Leo didn't receive any sort of punishment. None more so than Raph,

"Aw man… what a let-down." Mikey said but Donnie disagreed to a point,

"A bit. But you gotta admit, training will be back to normal now. And it was a pretty sweet moment in there." Donnie said with a slight smile. Mikey agreed, also smiling.

"Ah, stick it in yer shell." Raph said with a huff as he walked away from Splinter's bedroom door and to his own.

"Come on, Raph, what's up now?" Donnie asked as he quickly walked up to catch up to Raph,

"What's wrong? I lose my temper and I get lectured, he loses his temper, and Splinter not only praises him for it, but he's got his permission to do it again!" Raph said as he slightly raised his voice.

"Under certain conditions, Raph. And he didn't say that Leo could get angry anytime he wanted. He just said that he could stand up to Splinter if the conditions were right?" Donnie explained but Raph didn't see it that way.

"What difference does it make?" Raph spat out,

"Dude, do you _want_ Splinter to turn back into dictator mode?" Mikey said and Donnie supported this.

"Mikey's right. Things were fine before, but if I'm honest, I don't want Sensei getting like that again." Donnie said as he referred to the dictator part. Raph didn't like it either, but rather than admit it, he turned back to the direction of his room above. Mikey went to try and reach for him, but Donnie stopped him.

"That's just his way of saying 'I'll think about it'." Donnie said. From inside Splinter's room, Leo saw the scene unfold with Raph and he realised, things will start getting more complicated for him and Raph. Splinter saw this as well and he realised that he too was ultimately responsible for this change within Raph.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hoped you liked this chapter! Never thought you would see the day when Leo would blow up at Splinter, did you? I know this chapter was longer than the previous ones, but if I cut off some parts of it for another chapter, I felt as though it wouldn't flow as well as I thought it did here. Anyway, a heads up for the next chapter, I am going to introduce Leatherhead and Slash together! You will see why soon. Until then!**


	18. New Names

**me: Hello readers! Introducing Slash and Leatherhead in this chapter, and having said that, I'm not sure if this is my best work compared to my other chapters... but that's for you guys to decided. Enjoy!**

* * *

?... ?... ?... ?

"Kraang, the experiments that is known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have done that which is known as escape."

"Kraang, the experiments that is known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have stolen that which is known as the Kraang Power Cell."

"Kraang must destroy the ones known as experiment 411828 and experiment 330110 and retrieve that which is known as the Kraang Power Cell for Kraang."

The sounds of chatter echoed throughout the hallways as two large green mutants stomped and ran through the hallways, doing their best to avoid the laser fire from the Kraang's guns. As they ran, even the Kraang reinforcements that appeared in front of them couldn't stop them, even as they fired on them as the two large mutants just ploughed right through them, disabling some of them like they weren't even there. A laser blast fired from a gun from one of the downed Kraang and it hit one of the mutants directly on the left side of his chest, leaving a nasty laser burn mark.

"Gahrr!" the mutant grunted from the pain, that just showed how tough he was. Anyone else would have yelled and screamed from the pain, not just grunt from it. It still caused the other large mutant to check if he was alright.

"Hey! Can you still- "but at that moment another laser shot from the many being fired at them struck him and he grabbed the other mutant and practically dragged him, although the other ran as well. They came across an archway of sorts, in the shape of a circle that also had a pink swirling whirlpool of sorts swirling and moving inside.

"Other there! Our way out!" one of the large mutants shouted and the two wasted no time running towards and seconds later into it. The pink swirling vortex then dissipated, effectively stopping the Kraang from pursuing them any further.

"Kraang, those that are the experiments that are known as experiment 41828 and experiment 330110 have escaped with that which is the Kraang Power Cell."

"I am knowledge of that, Kraang. Those that are the Kraang's future planning are now that which is known as delayed."

Earth… New York City Sewers… ?...?

Luckily for the two large mutants, they were somehow in the sewers, away from any life form. Hidden in the dark, and thus unable to cause a panic, and for their sake, it would stay that way.

June 26th… The Lair… 10:34am…

Trying new things can either be a good experience or a very unpleasant one. Either way it will be an experience any person wouldn't soon forget. In this instance, Leo and Donnie were sat in the living room, Leo switching channels on the TV and Donnie was happily typing away at his laptop. Raph was nearby, punching and kicking the stuffing out of there practise dummy. It was then that Mikey approached his brother's and was hiding something behind his shell.

"Who wants to try my latest creation?" Mikey said, getting the attention of his brothers, "We all love pizza, we all love milkshakes! So, I combined the two." Since April had made it her mission to make sure that the turtles and Splinter got some real food, Mikey made it his mission to be the Lair's resident chef. He has cooked some nice things, but he had also made some… less than appetising stuff.

"Okay, that could not be any less appetising than your chocolate, pepperoni and anchovy pizza." Donnie said with a grimace. Leo and Raph also showed their grimace, they never thought that pizzas could be that disgusting. They also grimaced when they remembered that Mikey ate the whole thing when they could barely contain a single bite without spitting it out.

"I call it a P-Shake!" Mikey said as he revealed a jug of what can only be described as vomit. The thick yellow(ish) and red(ish) liquid sloshed around inside. Mikey looked proud of his creation, but Donnie did all he could not to throw up and make something similar on the floor.

"I stand corrected." Donnie said.

"You just have no sense of adventure." Mikey said and then he took a sip of his creation. And then promptly spat it back into the jug. His brother's responses were the same, looking away and grimacing.

"Where did I go wrong?" Mikey said and just to see what it was that did go wrong, he took even more sips of his creation, this time without spitting it out. Much to the disgusted faces his brothers were making. Leo couldn't bear to watch Mikey swallow what he thought looked like puke, so he went back to the TV and switched the channel again, and his attention was completely on it as another episode of Space Heroes was on.

Raph approached Leo, ignoring the episode (mostly) that showed the characters opening an airlock to get rid of an overflowing amount of fluffy balls.

"You have to be the only person in the world who likes this show." Raph said to Leo, but he was adamant that he wasn't.

"No way! There are millions of Space Heroes fans out there." Leo said and it was then that Donnie chimed in.

"I wouldn't say millions, Leo. But, the Ratings show website does say that the Space Heroes cartoon does have a reasonably sized cult following." Donnie said, and Leo grinned at Raph in response at this small victory, but Raph simply snatched the remote away from Leo and switched the channel over to the Channel Six news. Just in time for a female news reporter to give the latest news story.

" _I'm Joan Grody, with breaking news. City workers scared to work… because of mutants?"_ This news statement caught the attention of everyone in the room, even Splinter was listening from his bedroom. _"And city officials are not believing in the numerous sightings."_ The screen then switched to a reporter interviewing a Sewer Worker inside a sewer tunnel, _"There were these two, huge green… things! Me and my buddies have been seeing them occasionally, but this one was too close to call!"_ Leo and Donnie turned to Raph and Mikey.

"Wasn't me!" Raph and Mikey said in defence and in unison.

" _Take a look at this chilling footage."_ The reporter said and the screen changed to a camera recording,

 _The sewers were dark, even during the day, "Okay, we are going to prove to these higher ups that we're not alone down here." A sewer worker said and it was then that at the end of the tunnel, were two huge hulking figures that couldn't be human walking into one of the other tunnels but not before the sounds growling from one of them echoed throughout the tunnels. And given that they were at the end of the tunnel and the sewer worker in the middle of it, they were very close to each other, though the darkness in the tunnel prevented further details from being revealed._

" _Are we seeing the birth of mutants in Manhattan? Though after this footage was shown to investigators, very little investigating has taken place."_ Raph then paused the TV.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Donnie said, then Leo stood from where he sat,

"The last thing we need now, is a couple of mutants causing trouble in the sewers." Leo said, and even though Raph would like to fight with him, he supported Leo with his next set of words,

"Or some news crew poking around and instead of them, they find us." Raph said.

"We've got to find them first and make sure they don't stir things up." Leo ordered, Donnie then pressed the rewind button on the remote,

"Hey guys, I think we can track them down easier if we look at the tunnel number from they were last seen… there! Tunnel 281." Donnie said as he paused the screen to show the tunnel number where the two hulking figures were.

"Let's go!" Leo ordered and with that, the four turtles set out into the tunnels for their new scouting mission.

10:51am… Sewers… Tunnel 281…

It took a little while to get there, even though they knew a majority of the sewers, they still had to take it slow, because it would have been very easy to miss it if they weren't paying close enough attention. But they did, and they wasted no time in walking through the tunnel. Leo thought that with a sighting like the one that was seen on the news, that this place would've been sealed off with security tape, but there was nothing in the way.

There was very little light inside the tunnels, but the ninjas' eyes had long since adapted to the dark and could see as clear as day. But, for this instance, they would need to use their ears. Reason being was because when they reached the middle of the tunnel, there were two echoing roars the sounded throughout the tunnel along with the sounds of laser fire. Leo knew what the laser fire meant: Kraang. As they neared the corner, the sounds of laser fire and the double roaring grew louder and at the corner, the turtles hid to see what was happening.

There, they stood side by side. Two humongous green mutants, one giant alligator mutant and an equally large turtle mutant. Unlike the other four smaller turtle mutants at the corner, this large turtle looked as though he had naturally grown spikes on every part of his shell. The two mutants charged in barrelling through Kraang like they were made of paper, tearing off the android heads. The four smaller turtles at the corner stared on in awe at the sight of the two mutants fighting together. At one instance, the mutant alligator latched onto one of the Kraang droids with his large mouth and shook it about in the air like a normal alligator would with its prey before it threw the android at the wall behind the four turtles. The squishy Kraang inside popped out of the android and scurried away in terror of the alligator.

"I never thought I'd feel sorry for the Kraang." Donnie said but then at that instant, the mutant alligator was surrounded by Kraang droids while the large turtle mutant was busy smashing up more Kraang. The droids that surrounded the alligator activated what looked to be taser rods and thrust them into the alligator's sides. The electrical effect was clear as the alligator roared in pain, this continued for several seconds until the alligator slumped to the ground.

"Tell Kraang at what place can be found the Power Cell that Kraang wishes to find the place of." One of the Kraang said in its ever monotone, robotic voice. The alligator growled out before replying,

"Never." His voice was rough and deep but clear. The Kraang didn't like this answer as they backed away and pointed their blasters at the alligator. Although the four turtles saw this happen, only Mikey responded to this situation,

"We gotta help them!" Mikey said to his brothers, but Raph was almost nonchalant with his words,

"I think 'gotta' is a strong word." Raph said. Leo sided with Raph,

"Mikey, we don't know anything about them. They could be way more dangerous than the Kraang." Leo said with reason but Mikey was having none of it,

"Those two dudes need our help! I can't wait around for you cowards!" Mikey said and then at that point,

"NOOOO!" the large turtle mutant shouted before smashing his way through more Kraang droids and didn't stop until he covered the mutant alligator. The Kraang droids fired and the large turtle mutant winced in pain as the laser shots pelted his hard, spiked shell. Mikey looked on and turning to his brothers one last time,

"How can they be dangerous if they are protecting each other?" Mikey reasoned,

"Do you know what you're getting into?" Donnie said but it was too late as a loud "BOOYAKASHA!" sounded throughout the tunnel as Mikey charged in to the rescue. He used his kusarigama chain to hook onto one of the droids and pulled it to him before using the nunchuck in his other hand to smack the droid's head off.

"Well, that settles it." Raph said as he then brought out his twin sai, "Let's go whack some piñatas!" and with that, Leo and Donnie also brought out their weapons and charged into battle with Raph to join Mikey.

 _*SMASH**CRASH**BASH**SLICE*STAB*CRUNCH*_

It wasn't really much of a fight, it more like target practise for the four ninja turtles. During the commotion, the large mutant turtle that was protecting the alligator mutant, had looked behind him and looked on as the four ninja turtles defeated the Kraang in what looked like practised ease. He stood up fully and turned to the turtles. He completely towered over all of them. The four smaller turtles stood at between 5'8 to 5'11 with Raph being the shortest and Donnie being the tallest. However, the new turtle stood at around 6'5 and was as big as a sumo wrestler, and judging by his visibly toned muscles on his arms and legs, he was also very strong.

"Thank you, for helping us." The large turtle said, his voice was also deep but not as rough sounding. He then looked back at the alligator who appeared to be out cold, "We can't stay here, there could be more hunting for us." The mutant turtle said to which Mikey replied,

"So, why are those Kraang after you?" Mikey asked, though the large new turtle looked a little hesitant to answer,

"We- uh… no I can't. Not where the Kraang are likely to listen." The turtle said, and when he turned back to the alligator, something clicked inside Mikey's head. If this were a cartoon, he would've had a lightbulb appear and shining over his head. He turned to his brothers and spoke quietly so that only they could hear him,

"Guys, guys! How about we get them to safety in the Lair?" the faces of all three of his brothers went completely deadpan complete with their eyes wide and resembling plates. Leo eventually snapped out of it,

"What…? No… no! We still don't know anything about them!" Leo said and then Raph and Donnie nodded in agreement, however, Mikey was still having none of it,

"But they were fighting the Kraang, guys! It's like what Master Splinter said: 'The enemy of my enemy, is my bro'." Mikey said in his best Splinter impersonation. Leo and Raph face-palmed, while Donnie simply sweat-dropped.

"Friend, Mikey. The enemy of my enemy is my _friend_." Donnie corrected, with Mikey replying with a simple, "Whatever." Though Leo was quick to back up his claim with another claim,

"Besides, Mikey, what on earth would Master Splinter say? He was livid enough when we ended up bringing Angel, practically a stranger, into the Lair. It wouldn't take a genius to know what he would do if we brought two huge mutant strangers home." Leo explained, which sent a shiver done his, Raph's and Donnie's shells. Though Mikey remained adamant,

"This time, we'll give him a heads up!" Mikey said but it was at that moment that the large mutant turtle approached them,

"We can't stay here, we have to move, now!" he announced, and prompted Mikey with his offer,

"We have a hideout that you can hideout in!" Mikey said which promptly made his brothers face-palm with Leo quietly saying, "We've literally just been over this…" fortunately for Leo, the larger turtle didn't quite hear him and also, he had something else planned,

"Your offer is appreciated, but no. We wouldn't want to intrude, and besides we've already got our own hideout." The large turtle said and then turned to the alligator and picked him up off the ground and carried him bridal style, though the alligator's limbs were hanging from the unconscious body.

"See Mikey? They already have a hideout." Donnie said and it was then that the large turtle, with the alligator mutant in his arms, turned to the turtles with a thought in mind,

"Listen, I'm not very good when it comes to healing. Do any of you know how to help?" the large turtle said and Mikey wasted no time in pointing Donnie out, earning a very annoyed response from said turtle. "Good. I'll lead the way." And with that, the turtle turned to exit the area carrying the alligator. Mikey got three scowls as he looked to his brothers.

"What? But those guys need our help." Mikey said but Leo remained firm by what he said,

"Mikey, following two mutants that could kill us in a moment's notice is by far the worst idea anyone could come up with." Leo said, but still Mikey wouldn't back down,

"Come on, guys. They're about the only other mutants we've encountered who haven't tried to kill us. And they were fighting the Kraang! We can't leave them alone against the Kraang! Splinter would get really mad at us if we left them to fight the Kraang alone!" Leo would've made a retort but by then, Mikey had already left them to catch up with the larger turtle and alligator. Leo called out for him but then with a huff of annoyance, he, Raph and Donnie eventually jogged up to catch up as well.

11:15am… Abandoned Tunnel Ruins…

Nostalgia was the best word to describe what the four turtles were feeling right now. As they recognised the tunnels they were now walking through.

"Guys, do you realise where we are?" Donnie asked as he and his brothers walked a few feet behind the larger turtle, still carrying the alligator.

"Yeah, I do." Leo said and it was all the more confirmed by the next few corners.

11:16am… The Old Lair…

Old home. Still ruined from when Stockman's mouser robots destroyed it, but it was clear that someone else had come by and cleared some of the rubble. There were still some places that were inaccessible like the kitchen, dojo plus Leo's and Donnie's old bedrooms and the place still looked a little unstable but otherwise it still provided cover for the two new occupants of the old Lair.

"Guys…"

"Dude…"

"No way…"

"…"

Four different responses, but all were pretty understandable given where they were. The larger turtle payed no attention as he headed through the door that led into Donnie's old lab/workplace. Raph, Donnie and Mikey followed the larger turtle inside while Leo motioned that he would call Splinter about the situation.

Inside Donnie's old lab…

It took Donnie few seconds before the nostalgia dissipated and only because the larger turtle had carefully lowered the alligator on his old workbench that was barely big enough for the mutant to lie down on. Donnie walked over to the still mutant with Raph and Mikey following. Donnie examined the alligator, then when he examined the area where the heart was, he made a conclusion.

"Alright, here's what happened: the Kraang's electric shock rods have stopped his heart, if he wasn't already unconscious, he would be dead. We need to give him Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to jumpstart his heart, now!" Donnie said, prompting the larger turtle wonder what that meant.

"I'm sorry… I don't know what that means, but you said he could die?" the larger said in a partial panic but was doing well trying to keep from falling apart. Donnie went into what his brothers dubbed the Dr Donnie mode,

"Alright, I help through it. Mikey, Raph, give us some space." When Donnie was like this, it was best not to argue. Ever since their first venture on the surface, Donnie had it his mission to learn about medicine, first aid and other healing methods and even surgery from Splinter and of course the internet. He and Splinter had also prompted his brothers to learn as well. Leo was learning well but not as quick as Donnie, while Raph and Mikey were struggling with it. Now, a potentially dangerous alligator mutant needed medical assistance.

It was at that moment that leo walked into the old lab having just finished a phone call to Master Splinter and he had a face that said, 'You were right'. Splinter probably told him the same thing that Mikey did. Though that quickly disappeared when he saw Donnie helping the larger turtle perform CPR. He approached Raph and Mikey, and the two acknowledged him,

"So, how did it go, Fearless?" Raph asked,

"Well, Splinter said to… give them a chance." Leo said and Mikey's face beamed while Raph's nearly deflated.

"Wait… are you saying…" Raph asked, and Leo gave out a defeated, "Yeah…" before his next choice of words he would have to say that he would quickly regret,

"Splinter agreed with Mikey… he was right… and we should give them a chance…" Leo said this very quietly not wanting Mikey to hear, but he did.

"BOOYAKASHA!" Mikey almost shouted, not wanting to distract Donnie and the larger turtle from whatever it was they were doing but that didn't stop him from doing a little victory dance.

Donnie had learned how to tune out his three brother's antics when he was working as long as they didn't touch anything. He had just finished quickly walking the larger turtle through on how to perform CPR. The larger turtle pressed his hands on the alligator's chest area, roughly were the heart was and the CPR began.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10… 11…!

On the eleventh pound, the alligator was startled awake, but his eyes were different, and he roared as he leaped off the table,

"KRAANG!" the alligator roared before lashing out at Donnie and the larger turtle, prompting the other three turtles to spring into action. Well… almost. Except for Mikey. The alligator roared at the top of its lungs before suddenly spinning towards Donnie and grabbing him by the face.

"Get him off me! Get him off me!" Donnie said through a partially muffled voice, Leo and Raph brought out their weapons, but Mikey and the larger turtle protested,

"WAIT! He's going through a nightmare that he can't properly wake from!" the larger turtle plead while Mikey used his kusarigama chain to wrap around Donnie's waist to try and pull him free,

"Not like that! Not like that!" Donnie protested before the larger turtle tackled the alligator, forcing him let go of Donnie and was shoved into the wall and was pinned in place, the larger turtle holding him there, using his forearm against the alligator's collarbone and the other on one wrist.

"RELAX! Calm down! Your safe, no-one is going to hurt you!" the larger turtle said firmly but trying to calm the alligator, and after a few struggling seconds, the alligator's eyes returned to normal and eventually calmed down. The larger turtle backed up to give the alligator some space to breath, and after a few deep but ragged breaths,

"We're back at our hideout, you're safe, you know that, right?" the large turtle said,

"…yes…"

"What just happened?" Raph said as though he wasn't going to take a no answer for an answer,

"It has been like this since we escaped from Dimension X. But the nightmares don't stop." The large turtle said, and even though Leo and Raph were still on their guard, Mikey took this news in and felt sympathetic for the two large mutants. The alligator abruptly slid against the wall and sat down, feeling a mixture of shame, sadness and rage and still taking a few deep breaths. Donnie rose to his feet, and it was then that Leo stepped up to ask questions,

"Alright, what is 'Dimension X'?" Leo asked, the large turtle turned to him and then answered,

"It's the home of the… you know what…" the large turtle said as if to try and subtly tell them to mention…

"What? The Kraang?" Mikey said quickly to confirm but then,

"KRAANG!" the alligator roared as its eyes changed feral again and again he lashed out at the large turtle and the other turtles. The large turtle's reaction was instantaneous as he wrapped his huge arms around the alligator and pinned his arms to his sides, while Leo and Raph readied their weapons again, Donnie sprinted to the far side of the room to avoid getting grabbed by the face again and Mikey was ready to help calm the alligator,

"WOAH! It's just us! You're safe!" the large turtle shouted but the alligator struggled and thrashed to get out of his grip, and feeling guilty for being the to trigger this, Mikey jumped into action and onto the alligator's back,

"Woah, buddy!" Mikey shouted and then to massage the alligator's shoulders and then quick massage chops on the same shoulders, "Cleansing breaths!" Mikey said loudly but not shouting, "Cleansing breaths." He said again, this time soothingly which helped stopped the struggling and thrashing. The alligator calmed enough and his eyes went from feral to normal and the episode ceased. The large turtle unwrapped his arms and stepped back, causing the alligator to fall onto his hands and knees. Leo was about to step in with another question but Donnie held him back and shook his head as if to say 'no'.

"It looks like he has some type of PTSD. Mentioning… you know what… might trigger another episode." Donnie said quietly. He hoped this would stop the alligator from lashing out and it worked. Leo still had questions that needed answering and motioned for the large turtle to come outside with him.

Outside, Leo and Donnie stood with the large turtle and the questions began again,

"Okay, so you said that the Kraang's home is called 'Dimension X'. How do you know this?" Leo asked,

"We know this because the two of us were imprisoned there by the Kraang for many years. They performed horrible experiments on us… though it seemed to have damaged him more than me…" the large turtle answered,

"Obviously…"

"Is that why he lashes out like that? Because of their… experiments?" Leo said almost hesitantly, starting to feel bad for the two of them. Another reason to dislike the Kraang even more. The large turtle nodded in confirmation. Donnie was next to question him, though his was a little light hearted in nature but it had the opposite effect,

"I just realised… we never really introduced ourselves." But before Leo and Donnie could do that, the large turtle responded,

"Well, it wouldn't be much of an introduction. We don't have names." The large turtle said, and even though he didn't want to bring down the mood any more than it already had, but it had to be said to avoid future surprises, "But, you can still tell me yours." After introducing himself and Donnie, Leo pointed out his other two brothers in detail, though he was going to have to point this out to Raph and Mikey. It was then that Raph and Mikey walked out of the lab with the alligator mutant. Keeping his voice low so as to keep the alligator from hearing, he quietly said to the large turtle,

"So, the you know who want to bring you back to their home dimension? Is that it?" Leo said and along with a nod of conformation, the large turtle added something else,

"Yes, but that's not all. Before we escaped, we stole something from them. If they get they're tentacles on it, they could do more damage to this planet like they had originally planned for centuries." The large turtle said, but this prompted more questions,

"Centuries?" Donnie said and it was at that point that Mikey, Raph and the alligator were now within talking distance. After a few minutes of the large turtle and the alligator talking it over, they agreed to share what little they knew,

"We don't why they are choosing now and the last decade and a half or so to come to Earth. But we're just guessing that something here on Earth has changed." The large turtle said,

"You said you stole something from them." Leo said and when the large turtle and the alligator looked to each other, they both nodded in confirmation, and the alligator turned to walk towards the rubble were the dojo was being blocked, he picked something out of the rubble and when he walked back to the group, what looked to be a large pink glowing battery with a crystal of sorts inside, got more visible and the alligator explained what it was,

"About a month ago, when we escaped Dimension X, we stole this from them." The alligator said as he held out the object he was holding for all to see,

"What is it?" Leo asked,

"It's a Power Cell. Without it, they cannot enter or exit through their dimensional portal." The alligator explained, when Donnie looked and examined it, something clicked inside his brilliant mind,

"This thing even looks powerful. Something that powerful, the… might have a way to track something like that." Donnie said, careful not to mention the Kraang in fear of getting his face grabbed again.

"We know, that's why we keep moving it. Which is why we have to move it again, now." The large turtle explained,

"Right." Said the alligator and then the two turned around to exit the old Lair,

"Wait, you could use some help." Mikey quickly said. Before, his brothers would've face-palmed but now that they knew more, they did no such thing.

"Thanks, but we can't let you get involved in our problems." The large turtle said but Leo give Mikey his support this time regarding the two large mutants who stopped at the turnstiles,

"Mikey's right. We have already been fighting them for a while now. The more we know about them will help us plan ahead, so we can better fight them." Leo said and Mikey felt better knowing he wasn't fighting his brothers for their support. The two large mutants looked to each other for a few moments before motioning for the four turtles to come along with them.

11:36am… Abandoned Tunnel Tracks…

Walking in silence can go one of two ways. One, the silence can help relax the atmosphere between a group of friends. Two, in can increase tension until there is an ice breaker. This scenario however, it was very much the latter. The six mutants walked along the abandoned tracks, underground and the place was dark and almost depressing because all of this was just about lost or forgotten and perhaps both. But if there was anything that Mikey was good at, besides pranking his brothers, was knowing how and when to break the ice. With this in mind, he turned his head to Leo as they, Raph and Donnie walked a few feet behind the two larger mutants,

"So, Leo, did we ever learn their names?" Mikey asked quietly,

"Well, when we tried to learn their names, they said they didn't have names." Leo said just as quietly, though this sparked a reaction out of Mikey,

"Really!" Mikey suddenly reacted loudly, causing the whole group to stop and look at them. Mikey barely noticed as he practically dashed to the larger mutants, "You guys don't have names?!" Mikey asked as if it were somehow unbelievable, but it was believable when the two large mutants responded with a shake of their heads, "Ha, well you guys are in luck, cuz' I'm a genius at namin' stuff!" Mikey announced, and his brothers sweat-dropped. Raph tried to step in and clonk Mikey over the head for stopping them for something like this, but Leo held him back. Mikey turned his attention to the alligator,

"Let's see…" Mikey said as he looked at the alligator in the eye, the alligator wondering what Mikey was thinking, but didn't get the chance to as Mikey darted around him, poked at his thick tail and then opening his big jaws and inspected the inside of it before closing it. The alligator and his large turtle companion were absolutely bemused by this but as Mikey poked at the top of the alligator's head, he finally spoke,

"Hm… your head is kind of leathery. How about Headleather? Heather?" but then something clicked inside his mind, "No wait! Leatherhead! Even better. Leatherhead." Mikey announced,

"Leatherhead…?" the alligator contemplated this before he smiled, "Leatherhead it is. Thank you…" the newly named Leatherhead accepted his new name and for Mikey, it felt amazing to be thanked for doing something like this,

"I'm Michelangelo!"

"Thank you, Michelangelo." Leatherhead said with a smile before Mikey turned his attention to the larger turtle.

"Now then, let's do you!" Mikey announced and just like he did with Leatherhead, he darted all around the larger turtle, inspecting the spikes on his shell, and his big, muscled limbs. He stood still for a moment, putting his fingers against his chin thinking about another name,

"Your shell has spikes all over it… how about Spike? No wait… Bowser? Nah, that name is already taken." Mikey said and then something just popped into his mind again, "Ooh! I know! Slash! That's great! Slash!" Mikey announced and the larger turtle thought about this for a moment before nodding his thanks,

"Slash… I like that name." the newly named Slash smiled and Mikey was elated by this achievement. He made them happy by giving them their own names, and that made his smile wider. Slash and Leatherhead smiled and as they turned to continue in their tracks,

"I don't know why, but I feel like this has been our best day so far… Leatherhead." Slash said as he and Leatherhead walked alongside each other,

"I agree. This has been good… Slash." Leatherhead said and the two smiled again at the mention of their new names. Meanwhile, a few feet back…

"I can't believe you, Mikey." Raph said with a huff of annoyance, but Leo and Donnie defended Mikey's actions,

"How can you say that, Raph? Don't you see what Mikey did for them?" Leo said,

"Yeah, having no name is like having no identity to call your own. Besides, after being tortured by the Kraang for goodness knows how long, they at least deserve something back." Donnie said as they walked. Though Raph didn't say anything, he silently agreed with his brothers. He was never one to admit his faults so easiy.

11:50am… Train Car Graveyard…

It took some more minutes of walking and navigating, but eventually the group of six mutants made to what looked like a cluster of disused and abandoned train cars. There were dozens of them stacked close to each other and in hindsight, it looked like a good hiding spot. But, Donnie realised that with the Kraang Power Cell, the Kraang would no doubt be able to track that energy signature as it was clear that they have done in the past, and so as he walked with the group, he thought about how they would be able to stop the Kraang from tracking the Power Cell.

"Woah…" Mikey said, bringing Donnie out from his train of thoughts for a moment. And upon looking at the sight of the graveyard of disused train cars, Donnie nearly followed suit. Leatherhead entered the nearest one which was coincidently on the track that the six mutants were walking on.

"This should be a good place to hide it for a while." Leatherhead said, thinking he would need to keep moving it to keep it out of the Kraang's reach, but as Mikey and Donnie entered the train with Leatherhead, Donnie voiced what he had been thinking on the way,

"You know, I think we can use a more effective way of hiding this…" Donnie said, and though Leatherhead wanted the same thing, he felt that no matter what, the Kraang would figure out how to get what they want eventually.

"The Kraang are smarter than they are as soldiers. How can you be sure that whatever you do, that the Kraang won't find it eventually?" Leatherhead asked,

"Well, it certainly could be a lot better than constantly moving it to try and throw them off." Donnie replied, and then Mikey was next to question him,

"Dude, what are you thinking?" he asked, and though Leo, Raoh and Slash were outside the train car, they could also overhear their conversation,

"Well, I'm making an educated guess that… they… are tracking the Power Cell's unique energy signature by using a type of tracker that has the Power Cell's unique energy on record so that they could trace it should they ever lose it. If my guess is correct, then their way of tracking energy is not that much different from how human technology tracks energy, although that is still most likely in its infant stages compared to advanced alien technology but otherwise much less the same. If I had the right- "but during Donnie's rambling his own thoughts, he stopped himself when he saw the glass casing in the floor at the back of the train car, and walked to it. He kneeled to get a closer look at it.

"Actually… this could be it, you guys." Donnie said and Leo and Raph entered the train car to see what had stopped Donnie,

"What is, Donnie?" Leo asked,

"Well, judging by how this graveyard of train cars is, I'm guessing the era that they were built used materials that could do more harm than good. But in our case, it might just be the solution." Donnie explained.

"How? With dirty glass?" Raaph said with a smirk, not really getting what Donnie was onto as he analysed the glass casing, but Donnie just turned his head to Raph.

"Not dirty glass, Raph. Lead Glass. If this really is lead glass, then we can use to refract and bounce the Kraang's tracking capabilities, virtually making them useless." Donnie said, and Raph and Mikey didn't quite understand, Leo understood right away,

"Sounds like we need to get this track car back to the Lair so you can do a proper analysis." Leo said and then Slash entered the train car, it was a bit of a tight squeeze for him, more so for the others as things get even tighter for them since Slash and leatherhead took up a lot of space being inside this small train car. But before he could voice anything, the all too familiar sound of android movement echoed from outside the train car. All six of the mutants inside heard it and when Slash turned around to see what was happening…

"Give to Kraang the Power Cell that Kraang demand that you give to Kraang." A Kraang droid said among the dozens that approached the train car. Slash quickly closed the door,

"It's the Kraang!" Mikey shouted out and Slash used all his strength to keep the train door closed as the Kraang fired on the train car with their laser blasters, while Raph and Mikey did the same with the side door. The Kraang outside pelted the train car with their blaster with not much effect, and they also rocked the train car. But then it all suddenly stopped. The turtles and Slash and Leatherhead, looked about them at the silence but before anyone could breath, Raph and Mikey were startled as the razor blades of the Kraang's blasters sawed through the train car in order to create an opening, this was followed seconds later by more razor blades sawing in through the roof and the other side pf the train car. The Kraang's sawing and cutting were getting bigger, they would eventually see them, and seeing that there were dozens, not even the six of them together could take them on, at least not without sustaining serious life-threatening injuries.

"We're surrounded!" Raph said, stating the obvious as he used his twin sai to block one razor blade from cutting any further. Leo also blocked a razor blade with his twin katana, as he was doing this, he turned his head to Donnie,

"Donnie, can you get this thing running?" Leo asked, a bit desperately,

"This track is dead, there's no power on it." Donnie replied but then Leo thought of the Power Cell,

"What about the Power Cell? Would that power it?" Leo asked quickly, to which Donnie replied just as quickly,

"I can probably use it to hotwire this thing. But I'll need time!" Donnie said. Upon hearing this, Leatherhead and Slash exchanged a knowing look,

"We will buy you time!" Leatherhead announced as he and Slash readied themselves,

"My friends, we have been hiding the Power Cell with very little success. You say you have a plan? We will trust that can do a better job. We will deal with the Kraang." Slash said and then he opened the door, greeting the Kraang with his enormous build before roaring at the top of his lungs a war-cry before lunging at the Kraang with a mighty shoulder tackle and ploughed his way through, followed shortly by Leatherhead who also roared a just as loud battle-cry and joined Slash as they thrashed and lashed at every Kraang in front of them. Meanwhile, back inside the train car…

Donnie was frantically trying to remove the glass cover on the floor of the train car as his brothers tried just as frantically to block the door to prevent the Kraang from getting in.

"Donnie, hurry it up!" Raph shouted,

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Not to rush you, but Slash and Leatherhead can't hold them off for long!" Leo all but ordered,

"Be quiet!"

Donnie kept working despite all the demands to hurry up,

"Donnie!"

"I got it!" Donnie announced as all but slammed the Power Cell into the casing and before he knew it, the Power Cell glowed and the train car rattled into life as it was given new juice and before Donnie could acknowledge what was going on, the train car he and his brothers were in suddenly sped along the abandoned train tracks, destroying many Kraang droids that were unfortunate enough to be on the tracks and also making the fight easier Slash and Leatherhead.

The powered train car was speeding at a speed abnormal for its type, as it was evident when the four brothers inside were pushed to the back of the car by the sheer force at which the train car was moving. The boys screamed as though they were on a death defying roller coaster ride for the first time; terrified but thrilled at the same time. Donnie's brain tried to calculate how fast they were going but realised they must have left the Kraang plus Slash and Leatherhead behind in their dust by now, and so without thinking much of it, he pulled on the train car's emergency brake hanging from the ceiling and the result was the train car screeching to a halt, almost like it was in pain from braking so hard at the speed it was going, there were even sparks emanating from the bottom of it. Eventually though, the alien battery powered train car stopped and the brothers could feel the whiplash effect from the sudden screeching stop.

11:58am... In the abandoned tunnels, somewhere…

 _*DING DONG*_

The sound of door opening followed after the sound and the turtles all but crawled out, they tried standing up, but it was like trying to stand up after spinning for too long, their shaky legs couldn't handle it much and so, they either ended up on their hands and knees or sprawled out on their shells or plastrons.

"… Donnie… *HUFF*… *HUFF*… where… are we?" Leo asked as he tried to catch his breath. Though Donnie looked no better sprawled out on his plastron,

"…tunnel… 87…" Donnie voice sounded like he was going to vomit but he said it and when he heard this, Raph sat up from lying on his shell,

"…okay… we were racing at who knows what speed, and yet you know where we still are? How?" Raph asked, and Donnie was too weak to verbally answer so he just pointed up behind Raph, and when he turned to where he was pointing, he saw a tunnel sign marked '87'. "Oh."

"At least we know where we are. We need to get back home so Donnie can… do his science thing…" Leo said in a tone that was less than leader like, causing Raph to smirk,

"Heh, 'do his science thing'?" Raph said mockingly,

"Shut up, Raph! I'm just a little out of breath from that…" Leo snapped but with his weak and shaken limbs, he looked more pathetic than snappy. But they smiled all the same.

12:02pm… Train Car Graveyard…

The train car, along with the turtles and the Power Cell were gone now, the speeding train car decimating most of the Kraang present and with other remaining Kraang droids destroyed by Slash and Leatherhead, only two barely functioning Kraang droids tried to crawl away to safety,

"Kraang must inform Kraang that the ones known as the Turtles have taken Kraang's Power Cell from Kraang." One of the Kraang droids said but in response, two huge looming shadows covered the two followed by a growl,

"You won't be telling anyone, anything!" Leatherhead said as he and Slash attacked the two remaining Kraang.

12:34pm… The Lair…

Being in an unknown tunnel, it took a little longer for the turtles to arrive home. Donnie wasted no time in rushing to his lab with the Power Cell they acquired. Splinter saw this from the living room and wasted no time in asking what happened,

"My sons, what is happening?" Master Splinter asked. At this time, it was unusual since it was still early, but Leo stepped forward to begin explaining their hectic morning. All the while, Donnie was heard using his louder tools and mechanics skills from where everyone else stood. Donnie felt that something like this, he couldn't afford to be quiet about it, he knew what to do and didn't waste time and got straight to work.

12:51pm…

By the time it was done, there was only one thing that was different about this explanation. Master Splinter praised Mikey for his wise decision in giving two souls names they could have and deserve for themselves. This earned four surprised looks from all four turtles, including Donnie who heard it from inside his lab. It even surprised Splinter himself when he used the words 'wise' and 'Mikey' together in one sentence but that didn't stop Mikey from grinning from ear to ear from such a praise that was practically never said. But eventually, Master Splinter got a full grasp of the situation at the end of Leo's explanation, also at that time, Donnie exited his lab with what looked like good news,

"Good news guys!" Donnie announced and when he got a look of confirmation to go on from Leo and Splinter, he continued, "So, I was right about this being lead glass. I can use this to scramble however it is that the Kraang can trace the Power Cell." Donnie said, earning a 'Good work, Donnie' from Leo, and he wasted no time exiting the Lair again with the power cell and the lead glass. No doubt to head back to the train car they brought with them.

Donnie knew that they were going to gain a small advantage over the Kraang and their seemingly endless number of troops and weapons, and he wasn't going to waste it. He would take full advantage of the Power Cell for his next project.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hope you liked this chapter! Got a challenge for you, at the beginning of this chapter, the Kraang referred to Slash and Leatherhead as 41828 and 330110. These numbers are a reference to something, try to figure out what these numbers mean. Another reference to look out for is when Donnie pointed out they were in tunnel 87. A reference to the TMNT cartoon that first aired in 1987. Anyway, hope you will like the next chapter! Until then!**


	19. Splinter's Dilemma

**me: Hello readers! This chapter has a short version of the 2012 episode 'New Girl in Town' and has a different view of what happened during the 2012 episode 'I Monster'. Enjoy!**

* * *

July 3rd… 2012… New York City… The Lair… 7:25am…

As Master Splinter sat, kneeling in his bedroom to meditate, he began to put fifteen years of practise into it. He had four sons, all loud, disruptive and at times difficult, but through patience and perseverance, he eventually found a rhythm for them but even then, it was difficult to meditate without the noise and the loudness disturbing him.

This morning saw Master Splinter meditating in his bedroom, seeing it was probably the only time of the day where he could meditate in peace before his chaotic sons disturbed the peace. Master Splinter cleared his mind, closed his eyes and let his mind drift into the ethereal planes. He could feel absolute tranquillity, he could see his view change from the Lair to a-

"MIIKKKEEEYYY!"

The peace was disrupted early today and his peaceful meditation came to an abrupt end as his eyes opened as he let out a defeated sigh. For whatever reason now, Raph's voice echoed throughout the Lair, disturbing everyone. Leo was practising his katas and lost his footing, Donnie nearly dropped a screwdriver on his foot, and though Mikey knew it was coming, he was still startled awake from his dreams of pizza and music.

Abandoned Warehouse…

Meanwhile, Casey and Angel just awoke from inside their sleeping bags, wondering what that noise from the Lair down below was just now.

The Lair…

Mikey dashed from his room, realising he was most likely going to get Raph's fist in his face, and when Raph stomped out of his room and spotted Mikey down below, he bolted from the upper floor to once again, do a Tom and Jerry routine with Mikey. As they neared the living room where Leo was practising his katas (or at least trying to), Mikey dashed behind Leo to try and use him as a human (or… turtle) shield. As Raph's angry and pen marked face approached him, Leo easily guessed what happened, and just as Raph was about to shove him aside to get to Mikey, Leo instead stood his ground and held Raph back,

"Raph, I know you're mad but- "and then Raph shouted and interrupted,

"Damn right, I'm mad! Mikey glued my mask and now I can't get it off!" Raph shouted and when Leo looked at Raph's pen marked face, he realised that Raph didn't yet notice. The drawings consisted of: pen marked tears going from his left eye and down his left cheek, three hearts on the other cheek, a stringy moustache just above his lips, eyelashes just above his eyes, thick bushy brow eyebrows, fat lips around his lips and the words 'Free Kisses' were written on his forehead. Leo took a glance at Mikey behind him and both realised that Raph will find out about his face sooner or later. And for Mikey's sake, sooner was better than later.

And it would probably be sooner, since Leo's momentary glance behind him where Mikey using him as a shield, Raph used that moment to overpower Leo and shoved aside. Mikey let out a nervous laughter as he practically shrunk at Raph's anger, the laughter coming from how Raph's face was.

8:02am…

It was time for morning training, and after fifteen years, Master Splinter should've really been used to how his son's antics would leave them. As he stood outside his bedroom and his four sons kneeled in front of him to begin their morning session, Master Splinter raised an eyebrow at how they all looked. Leo and Donnie looked the same as ever, so they were alright, Raph however had a strange substance on his mask and had pen marked drawings all over his face and Mikey had a comically large bump on his head and was also soaking wet. Master Splinter refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose as he asked,

"Raphael, why is Michelangelo soaked?" Master Splinter asked,

"I just let Mikey know what happens when he glues my mask to my face!" Raph said as he growled out the last few words at Mikey but thought nothing when Mikey continued to grin and also failed to notice how Leo and Donnie were quietly snickering.

"And you didn't wash your mask before our morning training session?" Master Splinter asked, earning a quiet "No…" from Raph, it seemed he forgot to do that.

"Go now, Raphael. Wash it off." Master Splinter ordered and Raph obliged, he stood and walked away from the group and headed to the bathroom. Though he was quietly suspicious when there was a silence coming from his brothers. When he entered the bathroom, and closed the door behind him, Donnie held out his right hand and counted down,

"3… 2… 1…"

"MIIIKKKEEEYYYY!"

Right on cue. The bathroom had its own mirror and when Raph roared, it meant he just saw his reflection. Mikey could no longer contain his laughter and with the comically large bump on his head gone, his laughter echoed everywhere in the Lair and drowned out Leo and Donnie's snickers and giggles. Master Splinter pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered if there was ever going to be a moment of peace at the Lair. Though one thing was for certain; there was never a dull moment at home.

July 5th… 9:03pm…

For Master Splinter, there were two types of silence: one where his sons were at home and he could enjoy what silence he could get when they were at home with him. But the second silence he dreaded, one where his sons were out patrolling the city and he was alone in the Lair. He dreaded this silence because he feared it would be permanent as any patrol could be met with at least one or all four coming back with life altering injuries.

As he sat, kneeling and silently praying for his sons to return home safely, his ears caught the sound of the TV on. He thought it was suspicious that his sons were back home so early and when he exited to his room to find only Leo sitting and watching a cartoon on the TV, he doubted he was here with his brothers,

"Leonardo, where are your brothers?" Master Splinter asked as he approached Leo, who still had his shell to him as he watched the TV,

"I have no idea." Leo said, still with his shell turned to Splinter. It was the first time Leo had said something like that about his brothers, and it appeared that Leo forgot that part of his role as leader is to know where his brothers are at all times and how there are doing at all times. Splinter didn't approve of this sudden change in Leo's attitude,

"What do you mean, you have no idea?" Splinter asked, getting more unsettled as this progressed,

"Raph thinks he can lead the team better than me, so I let him." Leo answered almost nonchalantly and still with his shell to Splinter. To Splinter, this was unacceptable.

"That is not your decision to make." Master Splinter said, now speaking in a tone that demanded full attention. Leo picked up on this and stood up and when he turned to his sensei, they were only a few feet away from each other.

"Why not, sensei? I've had to make every over dangerous decision and I'm tired of it. Those guys have no idea what kind of pressure I'm under and all they do is complain. Is it too much to ask for a simple 'thank you'?" Leo said and it was clear from his complaining that he needed a reminder that only he could lead his brothers effectively, and Splinter would be the one to remind him of that, he tightened the grip on his cane and slammed the tip to the ground, the slight shock that emanated from it made Leo quit his complaining and listened,

"Of course, it is!" Master Splinter said in a tone that meant Leo felt like he had to listen, "Leadership is not about being appreciated, it is about responsibility. It doesn't matter that the burden is heavy, it matters that you carry it. Now go find your brothers." Master Splinter ordered and unlike last time he did this, this time he wasn't blinded by fear, this time he was stern for all the right reasons. Leo didn't fight back, he felt he didn't have the right to this time, and though he felt otherwise, he still left the Lair via the elevator to begin searching for his brothers without a word.

As soon as Leo was out of earshot, Master Splinter let out a tired and almost defeated sigh.

"We all have much to learn." Splinter said to himself. He would continue worrying about his sons some more now. Their own trials will and have put them in more trouble than they would like and once again, Master Splinter silently hoped that they would pull through together and they would return home to him, safe and sound. But he still couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

9:34pm…

"HELP!"

One of the few words that Master Splinter dreaded to hear when any of his sons came rushing in to home. Master Splinter quickly dashed from his bedroom and saw Raph and Donnie carrying Mikey to the living room couch. Mikey looked to be in terrible shape, he had a massive bruise on his face, nothing he couldn't recover from, but the groaning he emanated and his closed eyes showed him he was in pain.

"Set him down." Master Splinter ordered and the two brothers followed the order and set Mikey down onto the couch. Master Splinter approached Mikey and examined him along with Donnie. He also had a question that needed to be answered,

"Where is Leonardo?" the fact that Leo didn't return, it meant that they hadn't regrouped yet.

"I don't know, Master Splinter…. Ah… this is a disaster and it's all my fault! I don't know what happened. I just froze up. I mean I have no problem risking my own life but… risking my brothers…" Raph said and Splinter seemed to get a grasp on the situation. Donnie was there as well and what he witnessed, he decided to let Raph know exactly what happened to him that he 'froze up',

"I know what happened, Raph. You had a panic attack." Donnie said and when Raph turned his head to make I contact with Donnie, he realised that that the look Donnie had as they made eye contact meant that there was no joking or overthinking. It was clear and it was correct. Raph tried to say something but before he could, Master Splinter took a breath and ened up catching a whiff of something that came from Raph. When Raph turned about trying to think of something, Splinter saw what the smell was coming from. It was on Raph's shell, a yellow spot on his shell, like pollen or something to the like. Splinter wasn't one to take sides between his sons but in this case, he had to take Leo's side of the argument and also to make sure that Raph left the Lair.

"Now you understand the price of leadership. Responsibility." Master Splinter said. This made Raph speak up in agreement for Leo,

"Yeah… I hate it…" Raph said,

"So, you understand Leonardo's burden?" Master Splinter asked which earned a nod in agreement from Raph,

"We need him back… I… need him back…" Raph said in defeat. He had learned his lesson tonight.

"Then go get him." Master Splinter ordered, but Raph stood still as Splinter left to fetch some medical supplies for Mikey.

"But, Sensei, I don't know where he is." Raph said and immediately after, Donnie spoke up in response as he held up his T-Phone,

"This is partly the other reason why we have our T-Phones, Raph. I can track him down if he has it." Donnie said and as he left Mikey to go to his lab,

"Great, you go do that then. I'll… keep an eye on Mikey for now…" Raph said and inadvertently set Donnie up for a retort,

"First good idea you had all night." Donnie said a bit coldly. Those were the exact same words that Raph said to Leo during their argument. This struck a nerve on Raph and rather than argue with Donnie about it, he just sat next to Mikey, thinking he deserved those words.

10:28pm…

It was a hectic hour. Donnie had tracked Leo's T-Phone and sent Raph out to Leo's location, and would update him if Leo changed locations. Raph eventually found Leo and ended up getting ambushed by Snakeweed. After a hectic battle, Leo and Raph managed to freeze Snakeweed with a type of quick- freezing gas and shattering him into pieces.

Now back home, the two turtles entered the Lair and the relief on everyone's faces said it all. Mikey had recovered a little while earlier, thanks to Splinter and Donnie's efforts and despite the aching headache, he seemed to be in good spirits. Splinter approached the two,

"I see that lessons have been learned tonight." Splinter said earning him a nod from Leo and Raph, before he continued, "I say that to all four of you." Donnie and Mikey looked to each other and though they agreed on it, they said nothing. For Splinter, they needed to voice out what it is that they learned,

"And what is it that you all learned?" Splinter said and though the four of them were a little reluctant, one of them spoke up, and to most everyone's surprise (minus Splinter) it was Raph who spoke first,

"That risking your brother's lives is horrible… Leo… I… I'm sorry I called you the worst leader. I now know that I could never do what you do…" Raph said. When the two fought against Snakeweed earlier in the night, Raph realised that his orders got them a severely injured Mikey as a result, and when he saw Leo again, something clicked inside his mind and was then able to see Leo in a different light. Leo was the leader, the one who had to shadow the burden of making sure all four of them returned home alive and in one piece.

Leo looked a little stunned by Raph's apology and after a few seconds of staring at him, he acted on the need to step forward and wrap Raph in a hug. "It's okay, Raph…" Raph was a little stunned by this move but made no move to fight back. When Leo unwrapped his hug, he stepped back and felt a little sheepish as he placed a hand on the back of his neck and tried to not make eye contact with Raph,

"I'm sorry too… for letting you hold a burden that you weren't ready for. I should've put up more of a fight. Leading the team is my responsibility, whatever happens to you guys is on me." Leo was effectively taking the blame for Mikey's head injury and though Raph wanted to protest he quickly realised that it would lead the two of them in circles. Though one thing was clear from that night; lessons will have to be learned if they ever hoped to remain as a group of four brothers.

July 8th… The Lair… 4:36pm…

Practise. We all need more practise. Even for Masters of their art or lifestyle, they too need to keep practising or they will eventually lose their mastery over what they do. This includes Master Splinter, a master of ninjutsu to keep practising what he does. Without the walls of a dojo (yet), it was becoming a common sight for the four mutant students of ninjutsu to see their Sensei practising and training.

Earlier that day saw their Sensei sparring with all four of his sons in another session of randori with the unexpected of result of Leo just managing to get the upper hand on Splinter and landing some good hits on him as well. Eventually, the inevitable happened and Master Splinter defeated Leo by flinging him into a wall. But it still impressed everyone that Leo temporarily got the upper hand on Splinter, showing them all that they were making progress.

" _ **Join me… join me…"**_ a voice echoed inside Splinter's head, taking him completely by surprise as he screamed, dropping his sword and keeling over on his hands and knees. It was a sight and sound that took his sons completely by surprise and they wasted no time in scrambling to their Sensei's side.

"Master Splinter? Are you okay?" Donnie asked with worry all over his voice as Splinter struggled with an answer,

"…I …am… fine…" Splinter replied weakly and no-one was buying it,

"Are you sure…? You don't seem- "but Leo's worried question was interrupted by the sound of singing birds sounding from Donnie's T-Phone,

"Hey, that's April's ringtone!" Donnie beamed and was then joked on by Raph and Mikey making kissing noises at the sound, much to Donnie's annoyance, he pushed them aside though that didn't stop them from giggling about it as Donnie answered his T-Phone,

"Hey April! I mean… hey, April! I mean- "Donnie tried to sound suave but just came out silly as he kept trying to woo her but was instead interrupted by April,

"Donnie, stop talking. We need your help. Angel, Casey and I are having a little… pest problem." April said and in the background, Donnie heard lots and lots of mice-like squeaks behind the sound of Casey complaining of his hatred rats and comparing them to Hun and he also heard Angel trying to tell Casey to be quiet.

"She needs us, guys! You have to help her!" Donnie said but this made Leo reluctant to go,

"But what about Sensei?" Leo asked as he knew that something was more than wrong with Splinter, but that didn't stop Splinter from trying to comfort Leo's worries by placing a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"I will… be fine, Leonardo. Go, April, Casey and Angel need your help." Splinter ordered. Leo was reluctant to follow Splinter's orders but did as he was told. Once his sons were gone and he was left alone, he soon found that whatever was going on, it was giving him the worst headache/ migraine he has ever had. He needed to relax, but somehow his own bed didn't sound as appealing as the sofa right now, and so he slowly went over to the sofa. The moment he sat down on it, he was suddenly overcome with the need to close his eyes and drift off into sleep, which he didn't resist.

?... ?

Dark. It was usually that way a person keeps their eyes closed but in this wasn't the case with Splinter. He was wide awake but he knew that wasn't the case either, he had drifted off to sleep, which was unusual for him since he almost never napped during the day. But even though he looked around in this dark plain of nothing, he somehow got the feeling that he wasn't alone.

" _ **Splinter…"**_ it was that voice again and unlike earlier where it echoed inside his head, this time it seemed to echo throughout whatever plain he was in. Which was probably inside his head again.

" _ **Splinter…"**_ whoever this was, this person clearly wanted Splinter for something, but he wasn't going to give it to him.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Splinter demanded. It was a bit of a cliché line from movies, but Splinter didn't watch those and he didn't care about it either.

" _ **I am sure your sons know who I am. But in case they don't, I am Falco. And I want you, Splinter. You are a great warrior. You are exactly what I am looking for."**_ The voice said clearly. Splinter then felt a headache coming on and if he had a mirror, he would've seen his own glowing red eyes. He knew this headache wasn't a normal one, he knew that whoever this is was causing it, and did his best to concentrate and will it away. But this was a foe that wasn't going to let that happen.

" _ **Why fight it? You know in your heart that you belong to the Rat King."**_ His headache was getting worse and he was started to get worn down but at this moment, even though he was unaware of it, his eyes stopped glowing red.

"Leave me. I am not one of your rats to control!" Splinter said defiantly but felt the headache continue as the Rat King spoke again,

" _ **You're right. You are so much more. We are so much more and together, we will be unstoppable."**_ This was more than just a voice now as a corpse like person wearing a black cloak and a large rim hat appeared as a giant in front of Splinter.

"No! You and I are nothing alike!" Splinter once again spoke defiantly but his head was started to get worse.

" _ **We both lost all we held dear. We've both chose to become outcasts from society to live in the darkness."**_ As soon as the Rat King said this, he suddenly disappeared and rather than leave Splinter alone in the dark, he showed him a vision of a Japanese style garden and of a man kneeling and holding the bloodied body of a woman in his arms, crying as he did so. As Splinter looked on, shaking, the only thing that he saw was red. Lots and lots of red.

" _ **And we've both come to see the world through the eyes of rats."**_ The Rat King said and just as Splinter's eyes began to glow red, he quickly closed them and shook his head in an attempt to try and shake the Rat King out of his head.

"No! I am a man! I am Hamato Yoshi!" Splinter declared but the Rat King just scoffed,

" _ **Do not delude yourself. You are a nobody. You yourself saw to that."**_ Splinter started to breath heavily after the Rat King spoke those words as the plain he was in soon got darker and darker.

The Lair… 5:15pm…

After Donnie's reckless idea of literally catapulting them all to safety, with bruises on their bodies, it still meant that all seven teens arrived at the Lair safely.

"Master Splinter?" Leo called out but there was no response but when Casey turned his head to the living room sofa, he spotted him.

"…er… guys?" Casey pointed to the sofa and the other six saw what it was he was pointing to and so moved their way over to the sofa where Splinter was lying on. In fact, he was sprawled all over it like a couch potato complete with Splinter's right leg hanging off the sofa and the rest of him just strewn haphazardly on the cosy furniture. The sight alone nearly made Mikey laugh as they had never seen Splinter turn into a couch potato like Mikey does a lot of the time. April paid it no mind as she crouched down next to him.

"Is he okay?" April asked. When they rescued April, Casey and Angel, they were on top of a power line making sure that a river of rats didn't eat them alive, and after the rescue they all concluded that whoever was behind this can control every rat in the city. _Every_ rat. The concern that Splinter could be next made every worry,

"Donnie you're the smart one. What do we do?" Raph asked and Donnie answered nervously,

"M-m-maybe we should… poke him…?" it was daft plan and he knew it, but Leo nodded in agreement,

"Good idea." He then swiftly turned to Mikey, "Mikey, poke him." The order made Mikey flinch.

"No way, I'm not poking him! You poke him!" Mikey demanded but was met with his three brothers looking at him nonchalantly,

"Okay then, we'll put it to a vote. All in favour of Mikey poking Master Splinter say 'Aye'." Leo said and immediately after,

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

All from Raph, Donnie, Casey and Angel.

"That's five votes in favour of you doing the deed, Mikey." Leo said, frustrating Mikey,

"No fair! I want a recount!" but his demand was ignored as Donnie handed him his staff. Mikey reluctantly took hold of it. "Fine…". As Mikey sheepishly and nervously held the staff with both hands and pointed one end at a seemingly sleeping Splinter, Mikey remembered first and foremost; **do not** wake a sleeping ninja, warrior, master, sensei or father figure. Trying to wake up a sleeping master ninja warrior sensei and father figure, he might as well as have fought against the Shredder himself alone, it was going to end badly for him. Mikey was shaky as he pointed the staff as his brothers nervously peered over his shoulder,

"Easy! Easy…" Donnie said as a backseat advisor, "Be careful not to release the- "but Mikey ended up releasing the part of the staff that turned it into naginata and very nearly stabbed Splinter's head. The four brothers all screamed at the top of their lungs at the near accidental fatality and Mikey quite understandably threw the staff against the ground. Taking a moment to collect his breath before Donnie picked up his staff and handed it back to Mikey. The three humans that were watching didn't scream but they still flinched.

"Okay, let's try it from the _other_ end." Donnie said as Mikey took the staff again and nervously approached the still sleeping Splinter before Donnie shoved him forward. Now holding the staff from with the other end pointed at Splinter with no way of accidently killing him, Mikey tapped Splinter's chest with the staff and just as quickly stepped back thinking that Splinter would suddenly wake up from it but he didn't wake up. Feeling less nervous, he once again approached and poked Splinter and after he didn't wake up he poked Splinter several times in multiple places.

"Wow, he is totally out of it." Mikey commented and then he poked at Splinter's nose while giggling, "Dudes, check out the nose nuggets!" Mikey commented again and Donnie merely face-palmed at Mikey's brave but stupid antics.

?... ?...

Unaware of what Mikey was doing, Splinter was getting worn out from trying to fight the Rat King out of his mind and before he knew it, he was on his hands and knees as his headache worsened.

" _ **We have evolved beyond humanity. We have no need for them. But we can help each other. Join me, and you shall hide from the surface no longer."**_ As the Rat King made Splinter's headache worse with his words, Splinter once again shook his head and his eyes stopped glowing red again.

"No…" Splinter replied and he then weakly tried push away the Rat King but instead the Rat King disappeared in a puff of smoke, like he was never there. After which, he fell onto his hands and knees again as he breathed in and out heavily.

The Lair… 5:17pm…

Mikey now saw poking Splinter with the staff as a game as he moved Splinter's lips with the staff and spoke doing a bad impersonation of Splinter.

"Michelangelo is awesome!" Mikey said as he impersonated Splinter (badly), "He is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my- "but at moment Splinter suddenly awoke and grabbed the staff in one swift motion, startling Mikey before throwing Mikey across the Lair and landed shell first against the side of the bridge in the middle of the Lair. "…sons…" Mikey finished before he fell into the water below. Splinter lifted himself up weakly using Donnie's staff to help keep him upright, with Leo and Donnie worryingly approached him,

"Sensei, are you alright?" Leo asked, concerned for his father as was everyone else.

"No, Leonardo, I am not. It would appear that our former adversary, Dr Falco, has returned." Splinter explained, and it was then that Mikey emerged from the pool and just in time to hear Splinter mention Dr Falco.

"Falco's behind this? How is that possible?" Donnie asked, he knew first-hand what Falco was capable of and he was as sure as anything that he didn't employ rats.

"Somehow, he has acquired a telepathic connection with every rat in this city. And he now calls himself 'The Rat King'." Splinter said as Mikey joined his family and friends, taking on a look of irritation,

"Oh great! So now were letting the bad guys name themselves? We gotta take him down!" Mikey said with a determined look on his face, but it was mostly from Falco naming himself and not Mikey doing it. He suddenly found that he didn't like it at all. Splinter then gave up on trying to stand up as he felt too weak, and he sat back down on the sofa, handing Donnie back his staff, with April sitting next to him,

"Yes Michelangelo, you do. The Rat King will not rest until he has total control of this city… and my mind…" Splinter feared this as he spoke those words,

"Sensei…?"

"I have so much I have to lose… you four, my sons… and…" Splinter paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking again, "… the Rat King must be stopped quickly… if he has me under his control… I…" but just then, Splinter felt the Rat King again, worsening his headache and gave out a pained moan. Leo quickly went to Splinter's side,

"Fight him, Sensei." Leo said with as much encouragement as he could in this situation.

"Don't you worry, Sensei. We'll stop him!" Raph said as he pounded his fist into his other hand,

"But we gotta find him first." Donnie pointed out,

"When the Rat King attempted to take control of me, I could see into his mind. You will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Herald Square." Splinter said, now that had a location,

"Let's go play exterminator!" Raph announced and once again, Splinter felt his headache worsen again. He held his head,

"Hurry. I will fight him off for as long as I can." Splinter ordered,

"It's okay, guys. You go after the Rat King. Casey, Angel and I will watch over Sensei." April said. As his brothers left for the elevator and waited for him, Leo felt the need to get something first, thinking it would help at some point. He went into Splinter's room and a second later, he emerged from it and not wasting a second longer, joined his brothers in the elevator and exited the Lair.

Thinking that Splinter probably wouldn't hear him if he whispered, he quietly whispered his worry to Angel,

"So, should we be worried and on our guard that the 'Rat King' is capable of taking control of a mutant ninja master who could kick all of our butts in less than a minute?" Casey whispered to Angel, who nodded in agreement. April couldn't hear him even though he was in the same living room as was Splinter, but he had a more acute sense of hearing and he himself worried that exact scenario. But that worry grew even more as his headache caused him to drift off into sleep once again. April made sure he stayed upright on the sofa and got up to head towards the kitchen.

"Casey, Angel, watch over him. I'm just going to make some tea for him." April said and then headed into the kitchen.

?... ?

In the dark once again, and he was on his hands and knees again, quickly disliking this position. And with the Rat King being the cause of the dark, his headaches and this living nightmare, Splinter disliked this darkness. He always taught his sons as he was taught, that darkness and shadow are their friends, but at this point, he quickly learned that darkness and shadow can hide monsters like The Shredder and recently the Rat King also.

" _ **Why do you cling so hard to this life?"**_ it was the Rat King again, and Splinter was getting weaker, which was evident in the way that he spoke, weakly.

"I am needed here…" Splinter said weakly as if he were fighting a losing battle and feeling the effects of it. Oh wait. He was.

" _ **By who? Even your so called 'children' have begun to stand on their own without you."**_ The Rat King then showed him images of Leo furiously snapping at Splinter a while ago and then Leo sparring with and landing some hits on him.

" _ **And there is no point in lying to me or to yourself. You know that somewhere in the back of your mind that you blame your friends, the 'Utroms' for the deaths of your beloved wife and daughter."**_ Splinter would never blame them he thought, it was the Shredder who killed them, but he also couldn't help but think, 'If I was never an Utrom Guardian, maybe the Shredder would never have been involved…'

" _ **And soon you will be all alone. Come… we are your family now."**_ Splinter's eyes glowed red and he once again held his held with both hands.

"Nooooooooooooooo…" Splinter's cries echoed and dimmed until he himself could no longer hear his own voice.

(Splinter's POV)

?...?...?...?

Is it dark here? Or are my eyes closed? I can't tell. Did I open my eyes? Or are they still closed? I can't tell. I feel like… I don't know… but I feel something… in my head…? What is it? I should check…

…

…

I can't move my arms. Maybe walking can help…

…

…

I can't move my legs. I can't be dead… can I? No. I don't know why, but I'm not. Wait…

…

No… still dark… or my eyes are still closed… I don't think I can… am I still thinking…?

…

Yes. I can't be dead yet… maybe…?

…

Hm? My hand…? I feel… hurt there… what happened? And… my other hand… am I holding something? I can't see… but I can feel… what is it. It feels very familiar… what is it? I feel like I should know.

…

Hm? What is this? I feel something wiggling… moving… is it mine…? I don't know… but it feels like… it needs more… less… I don't know… but I can feel it below my back… what is it… I feel that… wait… do I know it's there…? No. That's not right. What is it…?

…

Hm? My hand…? It's still holding something… I don't know what but… It feels like… something keeps hitting… what it is I'm holding… but I can't see anything…

" _ **Come… my brother…"**_ brother? What is a brother? Wait… why does that word…? I felt this before… have I? I don't know…

" _ **Come to me now."**_ But that voice…?

…

…

…

Am I… I feel… something… warm… familiar… but… why?

"Here." That voice. It wasn't the same. Was that… my voice? Am I talking to someone…? …or… but…

"S-, s—p –t -f i-." that voice… it isn't mine but… I feel… do I know… Yes. I do know. I feel it. I know it.

"You waste your words. This is where I belong. With my brothers." My voice again. I feel pain in my chest as my voice said that. That can't be me? Can it…? No. I feel… I shouldn't say that… but why?

" _ **Splinter, kill them."**_ Kill? I don't know… but I… despise that word. Why though? What does it mean? But I feel… no. I know it is a horrible word.

"S-s-i d—'t!" that voice again… it was louder… a bit more clear… is he… pleading…? Why…? Is he talking… to me…? I should listen. Aargh! My head! Did my head just… feel like a weight on it…? Wait… that's not mine. I know it. But…

…

…

I feel… did he say something again? I heard… Sensei? That word… I feel… wait. Did he try to call me that before? Why is it only clear now…? I don't know…

Did I just touch someone? Some people? Wait. I know them. Their touch, I know them! But… why…? Hm? My hand… it's still holding something… did something hit it again? And again… something keeps hitting it.

Hm? That voice… it's… different… someone else… I don't know why, but I feel like… he needs my… help…? What with? … Did I just hit him?

"Do—i-!" another voice. Another different one. I feel like I know him as well. What did he call him? Do… Don… I feel… wait… something is touching my… what is it though…? …did I just hit someone again…? Why? I can't be doing this… I know I shouldn't!

"No—dy hi- Mik-y bu- -e!" another voice…? Their voices are getting clearer… but why…? Hm…? My foot…? Did I just kick someone?

"Sen-, pl—se!" that familiar voice again. He sounds… desperate… why…? No. I feel I know why. Hm? I hear… metal against metal and something is hitting my… sword…? Is that my… yes. That is my sword. And something is hitting it repeatedly. Are we doing that?

…hm? I feel something on the bottom of my foot. Am I holding someone down with it?

"WAIT!" that was the clearest I've heard. But why…?

" _ **Finish him."**_ That voice again. That awful voice…

"Rem-er -ho yo- -re! Hamato Yoshi!" Hamato Yoshi? That name… its mine? Wait. My head… it feels… lighter and… that image! Is that me…? And those two with me… that woman… that baby… my head… my heart… my…

"Donnie, Raph, Mikey, NOW!" Donnie? Raph? Mikey? Such familiar names… I know them… I…

"Ple-se… fath-r… we n—d yo-." Now I feel multiple ones all over me. This restraint… I don't it to end… I want it… help me?

" _ **Don't listen to him brother. Your place is with me."**_ NO! I will not listen. Leonardo! Raphael! Donatello! Michelangelo! My sons! I am here for you!

"My place… is with my SONS!" I shouted as I charge from where I stood, my head clear, my spirit is clear, my foe in front of me, I jab my fingers into his abdomen and using the spiritual energy I honed over the years, I blast him with a blast of wind that shot out through my fingers and I blasted the Rat King across the room, he slammed into the wall with the force of an uncontrolled rhino and landed just as hard on the floor, cracking both. The Rat King is down. And I am with my sons again.

"Sensei!" my sons said at the same time as they all rushed over and captured me in a group hug. All were happy see me again, and I couldn't be happier. Then, a river rats flowed over the Rat King's unconscious body and he disappeared along with them.

"And that's the last we'll see of 'Count Ratula!" Michelangelo said. My other sons gave him disapproving looks while I simply shook my head and smiled. Oh, my son…

"Yeah, fine. It's 'Rat King'. But I'm naming the next one!" Michelangelo said as his naming of Falco was shot down. And yet despite this, all of us let out heartfelt laughter as we exited the Rat King's lair.

(Normal POV)

The Lair… 7:06pm…

Splinter wasn't at all surprised that upon entering his home, Casey and Angel were a little cautious around him. April explained to him what happened and though Splinter initially understood the caution, he still felt guilty that it was his own face and body that attacked the three of them. But April assured him that will be passed and forgotten by tomorrow or the next day.

It was after that, that the three humans left the Lair and Splinter sat in lotus position outside of his room and let his mind wonder through meditation. It felt so good to meditate again without the feeling of someone trying to invade his mind this time. He stopped his meditation though when he sensed Leo approaching him. Leo still looked concerned for him,

"Sensei, are you sure you're okay?" Leo said. Although the Rat King reminded Splinter about Leo yelling at him, he still smiled inwardly that his son still showed concern for him. He stood up from lotus position and answered Leo,

"I am fine. Thanks to you. You did well, my son." Splinter said as he placed a warm and comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo was assured then that things were going to go back to normal. Well… as normal as things could get for them. He grinned at Splinter,

"Well, you did hesitate! And hesitation leads to vulnerability!" Leo smirked as he said this, using Splinter's own wise words of advice against him, that he himself used on Leo earlier that morning.

"We did pretty good too, huh?" Mikey said as he, Raph and Donnie appeared from behind one of the pillars.

"Yes. I am proud of you all." Splinter praised.

"Who knows, maybe one day we will all be a better martial artist than you." Leo said. And he was right, maybe one day that would be the case. But not today.

"Remember, my son, everything you know I have shown you." Splinter said and then the next thing everybody knew…

*SPLASH*

Splinter just threw Leo into the pool. Leo looked surprised as he didn't even see it coming as he climbed onto the edge of the pool but not yet getting out.

"But, I have not shown you everything I know!" Splinter said with a cheeky smile. He knew that one day, his sons will surpass him and one day best the Shredder. But for now, they were going to have to deal with him kicking all of their shells on a daily basis until then.

* * *

 **me: hey there! You may have noticed already, but just in case you didn't, I didn't introduce Karai to the turtles for the earlier part of this chapter. Instead, I am going to save her for later. The reason why will make sense in the future chapters. I also thought of what was happened to Master Splinter as he was being controlled by the Rat King and decided to do what was probably happening inside his mind at the time. Hope you guys liked it! Until next time!**


	20. TCRI Seige

**me: Hello readers! This chapter will fast forward a few episodes from the 2012 cartoon but the main focus will be the episode 'TCRI' from the same cartoon series. Except this time there's an addition I have made that will change future chapters and outlooks in this story. Enjoy!**

* * *

July 17th… 2012… New York City… The Lair… 4:46pm…

Normal isn't exactly a word that can be used around the Lair as often as any other person would use it. So, when the Rat King was defeated, the day after, Donnie commented on how things would go back to 'normal', his comment was met with a quick slap to the head from Raph and then a beratement on how nothing in their lives is normal. It had been twelve days since then and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before some excitement and danger came around.

"What'ya doin', April?" Mikey asked April. She sat of the chair in their living area, Mikey was lying on his plastron staring at her and Donnie was simply reading a book of science and quantum physics and April was swabbing her mouth with a cotton bud.

"Sending in a sample for a class project." April replied with a slightly bored expression.

"You're milling in your spit for a class project? Man! School sounds awesome!" Mikey said excitedly as he sat up, but April was nonchalant as she replied,

"It isn't…" April didn't think too much of school. She knew the turtles had never been to a real school before so she couldn't fault Mikey for thinking it was 'awesome'."

"Well, I'd be awesome at it! Check this spit out…" Mikey said as he stood and prepared to spit, seeing this, Donnie dropped his book on the sofa and dashed behind Mikey and clamped his hands over his brother's mouth to stop him.

"Don't!" Donnie warned. Mikey glanced at his brother and muffled something that sounded something like 'But Donnie!".

"It's not about spit. It's about the DNA." April added as she looked at the two brothers with slight amusement at their antics. Mikey glanced at his brother and muffled something like 'Donnie?' or 'DNA?'. Donnie let go of his brother to explain.

"DNA. Genetic code… you know, the building blocks of life?" Donnie said to try and explain but Mikey gave him a look that said he had no idea what he was talking about. "Okay, DNA is a microscopic blueprint that informs every living thing what they'll grow into- "wait a minute, "-and why am I still talking to you?" Donnie said as he realised that Mikey was never going to understand anything relating to science, technology, history, geography, genetics, literature, languages, mathematics/ algebra, physics, law, anatomy, computers, or even first grade maths, English and science or flying washing machines.

"I don't know. You'd think you'd have learned by now." Mikey said ironically and with a smile.

"Everyone is sending in a sample to this genetics group, The Worldwide Genome Project. Then they'll send us a report telling us all about our ancestors. Neat, huh?" April said and Mikey pretended to look interested.

"Uh huh, uh huh, it's amazing what they can do these days." Mikey said and Donnie sent him a questioning look, eventually, Mikey cracked and laughed, "Pfft, haha! I'm just kidding!"

 **5 hours later…**

Master Splinter had since grown used to seeing his sons coming back from dangerous missions sporting a range from injuries going from scrapes and bruises to slash wounds and laser burns, and tonight he prepared himself and his first aid kit for just that. He had been informed that April was attacked at her own school in the middle of the evening and they went to her rescue. So, imagine his surprise when they returned at 9:51pm with no injuries.

The four sat, kneeling in front of Splinter and went into details of their evening, including the Kraang robot that attacked April at her school, the World-Wide Genome Project that was a front for the Kraang to use and collect DMA from every plant and animal species on Earth.

"I still can't believe how easy that mission was. Usually our missions get us shot at! But not this time." Raph commented. It was true though, their infiltration of the World-Wide Genome Project Kraang base was more than successful. Usually their infiltration missions get them shot at or ambushed, this time though, they infiltrated, took out two guards, erased April's DNA codes, wiped out all the data the Kraang had of all the plant and animal DNA they had, destroyed said DNA and got out without incident.

"Most impressive, my sons." Splinter said. "I hope this serves to remind you of how infiltration can go when it goes according to plan." Splinter said, at which Leo looked proud of himself. No unexpected surprises, no improvising, this was a mission gone right and according to plan, but everyone knew that with the Kraang and the Foot to watch out for, this plan probably wouldn't work twice in a row.

July 19th… 6:24pm… Abandoned Subway Tracks…

Donnie had been really excited about something lately, and his brothers were wondering what. So, when an excited Donnie told them to meet them at these tracks so he could show them his latest project, Raph was irritated that he dragged all the way from home to the middle of practically nowhere for what he assumed would just be another toy. Though Mikey beat him to it,

"Man, what's taking Donnie so long? He knows I have a short atten- ooh, gum!" Mikey said and then dove forward and picked a piece of discarded gum. He was about to put it in his mouth but then Raph smacked it out of his hand.

"This better be worth it!" Raph growled and it was at this moment that the sound of an engine was coming this way until eventually, what was the discarded subway car they hid in some time ago came into their view, only this time it had huge truck like wheels on the sides, a huge bumper on the front the sides and roof looked like they outfitted with tank style steel and then graffitied over and the roof was in the shape and style of a turtle shell. Leo, Raph and Mikey looked on in amazement at the vehicle coming to a stop in front of them.

"Worth it." Raph said in a tome of amazement and with a sound from the vehicle, the side door opened to reveal a very smug and proud Donnie.

"So?" Donnie said smugly as he took in their flabbergasted expressions, expecting an answer for his awesome invention. Leo picked up his jaw enough to answer,

"You turned that broken-down subway car into _this_?" Leo said,

"Donnie, have I ever told you how awesome you are?" Raph asked equally amazed as Leo and Mikey,

"No, you haven't." Donnie said with a grin,

"Well, I am seriously considering it."

"So, what do you call this thing?" Leo asked as he, Raph and Mikey approached the vehicle, Mikey trying to give the vehicle a hug,

"Well, it's a heavily armoured, multi-weapon- "but before Donnie could finish, Mikey interrupted with just two words,

"The Shell-Raiser!" Mikey announced as he stepped up to his brothers with a look of determination, leaving his brothers to just stare at him as equally stunned when the vehicle arrived,

"What?"

"The Shell-Raiser! It's the perfect name!" Mikey said with determination, and almost at a loss for words, Leo spoke up,

"That _is_ the perfect name." he said as he and Raph and Donnie stood stunned by the nearly named Shell-Raiser.

 **1 and a half hour later…**

7:54pm… Eastman Land… Abandoned Warehouse…

New Rule One: Don't attract the attention of someone called 'The Pulveriser'.

New Rule Two: Don't accidently drag him all the way to the abandoned warehouse used as a garage and makeshift home.

New Rule Three: Don't try to teach him self-defence techniques with the honest intention of helping to get him out of trouble.

New Rule Four: Don't let him drive the Shell-Raiser. EVER.

New Rule Five: Keep him from being dragged off by the Kraang, even if it costs you the Power-Cell that was used to power the Shell-Raiser.

New Rule Six: Turn down his offer for more fighting lessons at every point.

New Rule Seven: Make sure the handbrake is off when pushing the extremely heavy vehicle back to the warehouse.

 _*SMACK*_

No less than two seconds after Donnie had stepped out of the Shell-Raiser, that Raph hit him over the head in retribution for making him, Leo and Mikey push the Shell-Raiser with its handbrake on before Donnie realised it. Then less than a few seconds later that they all piled into the Patrol Buggy/ Go-kart and raced out of the warehouse to catch the Kraang before they got away with the Power-Cell.

 **Later…**

Failure. They lost sight of the Kraang's getaway helicopter and now they no way of tracking where they went. That was until when they were in an alley contemplating their next move when Leo made the order to…

"That's it. We're going to see Leatherhead and Slash." He ordered, making Donnie flinch at the sudden memory of Leatherhead grabbing him by the face,

"…er… Leatherhead?"

"And Slash. They're the ones who've already taken the Power-Cell from the Kraang once, maybe they know how to get it back." Leo reasoned but Donnie protested.

"Leatherhead is also the one who grabbed me by the face!" Donnie said and Raph looked at him as if to say 'so?', and Mikey just laughed at the memory,

"Haha! Good time that was!" Mikey laughed, earning a scowl from Donnie,

"Zip it!" he said but Mikey was still having a few giggles, until Leo stepped in,

"Enough guys, we're wasting time here, we have to move, now!" Leo ordered and with one last glare at Mikey from Donnie later, the four turtles left to find Leatherhead and Slash.

8:33pm… The Old Lair…

It was hard to not be overcome with nostalgia again, but that quickly dissipated for all except for Mikey until he saw Leatherhead sleeping in the old living room/ pit area. Slash heard the turnstiles and saw the four turtles enter their home and approached them.

"Hello again." He greeted. Leo, Donnie and Raph greeted back and Mikey greeted with an affectionate hello hug.

"Sorry about the sudden intrusion, Slash. But we have a problem and it's urgent, and we're going to need yours and Leatherhead's help." Leo said and when Mikey went to move over to Leatherhead to wake him up (whilst also commenting on how cute the sleeping alligator looked), Slash stopped him by placing his arm in front of Mikey,

"I would just let him wake up in his own time. Waking him up yourself and you might trigger another episode." Slash said and Donnie flinched at the word 'episode', as it would probably entail Leatherhead grabbing his face.

"Right… but, we're a little pressed for time, so… Slash?" Leo said and motioned for Slash to wake up Leatherhead. Out of all five turtles in the room, Slash was the only one capable of wrestling with Leatherhead and hold him down until the alligator calmed down enough. Slash obliged, but when he approached leatherhead, he still seemed a little apprehensive to wake him.

"Leatherhead… up and at 'em…" Slash said nervously as he gently tried to poke Leatherhead. The effect was instantaneous as Leatherhead woke but his eyes were feral and angry and scared,

"KRAANG!" Leatherhead roared before dodging Slash and headed straight for Donnie and grabbed his face, lifted him up with no effort at all and shook him about. Donnie yelped each time his was shaken before shouting,

"Grabbing me by the face again! Get him off!" Donnie shouted and the other four turtles sprang into action. But the enraged alligator just used Donnie as a living weapon to smack away any who tried to get close.

"He must be having a nightmare!" Mikey said as he was just slammed away when Leatherhead used his own brother as a weapon on him.

"That makes two of us!" Donnie said in a muffled cry.

"He's your friend, Slash. What do we do?" Raph asked as he raised his voice slightly and in response Slash charged at Leatherhead as he was shaking Donnie about like a ragdoll and tackled Leatherhead and wrapped his huge arms around the alligator's waist, making Leatherhead drop Donnie onto his shell, Mikey leaped forward and whilst Slash kept him pinned place, Mikey massaged Leatherhead in places he knew that would help calm the raging alligator,

"Woah, buddy! Calming breaths." Mikey said in an as soothingly tone as he could muster at the alligator and after a few moments of gentle massaging…

"…Michelangelo…? …Slash…?" Leatherhead said and looked around at where he was and saw the other three turtles, "…my friends…" he then realised why they were on guard like that, "Oh no! I got angry again, didn't I?" Leatherhead asked sheepishly with Donnie responding with annoyance in his tone of voice,

"Yes! You did it again!" he then pointed to his own face, "Why did you grab my face again? What is wrong with my face?" Donnie asked and scolded at the same time, but this question and scolding earned a sassy remark from Raph,

"Would you like the list alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?" Raph said with a smirk but before Donnie could make another retort, Leatherhead spoke up,

"I am sorry for that. You are my friends and I do trust you." Leatherhead said before Slash remembered why they were here,

"Not to be rude but, why are you here? Did something happen?" Slash asked and at that question, all the other four turtles started looking sheepish,

"Well… er… yes…"

"Funny story… true story!"

"…"

"But before we tell it, why don't you sit down, and me and my face, will take one _big_ , giant step back!" Donnie said as he scarpered to the other end of the old Lair, "Okay, go ahead!" and then Leo took it upon himself to explain their situation,

"Well… er… it's about the Power-Cell, we… er… sort of… lost it…" when Leo mentioned 'lost it', Leatherhead's eyes turned feral, making the smaller mutant turtles a bit more nervous, "…to the Kraang." And then Leo leapt away as Leatherhead charged forward, enraged and slipped away from Slash and headed straight for Donnie again and roared as he grabbed Donnie's face again and slammed him shell first into the ground, Donnie whimpered but before anything else could happen, Leatherhead forced himself to calm down,

"No, Leatherhead… these are your friends." Leatherhead said to himself, prompting Slash to stop in his tracks and Donnie let a muffled 'Mmhm!" before Leatherhead gently placed him on his feet, and let out a sigh before saying, "Obviously, you did everything you could to protect it." He said and then Mikey decided to point out exactly what happened,

"Well… er… you see…" but then Raph dashed to Mikey and clamped his mouth shut with his hand to stop him from saying something he would regret later on,

"Yes! Yes, that's exactly what happened!" Raph quickly said,

"With the Power-Cell in theirs hands now, they can use it to power the portal to Dimension X! And when it opens…" Leatherhead said and Donnie quickly finished that sentence,

"They can use it to bring anything they want from their dimension to here." Donnie said and Slash nodded in agreement.

"Things so horrifying, they make everything you've been through so far seem like nothing." Slash said,

"Leatherhead, Slash, we need to get it back. Could you tell anything about where they could be?" Leo asked, knowing it was a long shot,

"We spent most of our time fighting and running from the Kraang, but I do remember seeing an odd symbol…" Slash said and Leatherhead also seemed to remember as well,

"Yes, I remember it as well, it looked something like this…" Leatherhead said before scratching a symbol onto the stone floor which Donnie took a picture of on his T-Phone.

8:49pm… The Lair…

The four turtles gathered around Donnie's lab and workbench, (by this time the lab looked a little like a small trailer from the outside) but the gathering looked like they were getting into Donnie's space and irritating him with suggestions about what the symbol was.

"I know I've seen this symbol somewhere before, it's so familiar…" Donnie said as he contemplated and thought deeply about the symbol.

"The Olympics!" Mikey shouted out,

"No." Donnie bit back, his stress levels rising

"I got it! The Olympics!"

"Stop guessing. Obviously, it's a Kraang symbol." Donnie said, his stress levels increasing slightly, by at which point, Leo butted in,

"But from where?" Leo said,

"The Olympics!" Mikey's guessing caused Donnie's stress levels to increase to volcanic levels until…

"QUIT IT!" Donnie shouted, causing his brothers to flinch back, their eyes going to the size of dinner plates, "There's an answer here and I can find it, if you will all just go away and LET ME THINK!" Donnie shouted and with that, his brothers slowly backed out of the lab, wary not to antagonise Donnie.

Now with space to think, Donnie thought more about the symbol.

"Oh, the Olympics?" not Mikey this time, but Splinter, but Donnie was so fed up with daft and random suggestions that he nearly snapped at Splinter,

"For the hundredth time, I- oh!" Donnie then turned to the voice and saw Splinter and stopped himself before starting again, "It's driving me crazy. I know I've seen this symbol before, but I just can't remember where!" Donnie complained but Splinter was more than ready for it and handed Donnie a cup of herbal tea.

"You must calm yourself, Donatello. Stressing over something too much can make any person forget anything. Drink up, my son, and relax. Deep breath and relax." Master Splinter ordered, and Donnie reluctantly complied and took the cup of the herbal tea from Splinter's offered hand.

"Okay, okay…" Donnie took one sip of the tea and did all he could not to spit it out. _"How on Earth do Master Splinter and Leo drink this and not grimace?"_ Donnie thought to himself, he was definitely a coffee person. Using the methods of relaxing that Splinter taught him plenty of times.

"I'm calmi- GOT IT! GUYS!" not even a second after he started 'relaxing', that he remembered what the symbol was, he was so startled that he didn't notice how he accidently flung the teacup into the air and still didn't notice as he dashed to his computer. As the teacup fell to earth, Splinter simply held out his hand and caught the teacup and the contents inside only spilling onto his hand slightly. Splinter took one sip of the tea and,

" _He had only started relaxing. Imagine what he'd be like if he was relaxed all the time…"_ Splinter thought to himself and imagined a fully relaxed Donnie solving every single problem and building everything necessary with no stress. He'd have no competition.

His brothers heard his call and once again gathered around Donnie as he sat at his computer, typing furiously.

"I've figured out where I've seen this symbol." Donnie said as he typed and clicked at his computer,

"Where?" Leo asked and with a few final types and clicks, Donnie brought up images of a building inside New York. The seemingly normal building though had the very same symbol on the sides of it.

"TCRI? _They're_ behind the Kraang plot?" Raph said, finding it a little hard to believe,

"The invasion?" Leo said,

"The Olympics?" Mikey said. _*SLAP*_. "What was that, Raph?" Mikey asked since Raph just hit him over the head to which Raph answered nonchalantly,

"A new Olympic event." Raph's reply earned a dry and unimpressed look from Mikey, but…

"They've been in plain sight this whole time! We've just never realised it!" Donnie said,

"I think it's pretty obvious what we need to do. We are breaking into that building and shutting down that portal." Leo said in his leader mode.

9:14pm…

Donnie had already phone April, (whilst trying not to get all giddy as he was doing so) and had also asked her to print the blueprints for the TCRI building. When she arrived at the Lair, she was followed by Casey and Angel. The Lair was ripe with planning, as Donnie was at his workbench inside his lab working on a bomb. Mikey appeared beside him looking to help.

"Can a press that?" Mikey asked as he pointed to the big red threatening button that may have well have said 'Push me and I explode'. (Kind of like Raph)

"Sure. If you wanna blow us and the whole Lair to pieces." Donnie said nonchalantly and making Mikey flinch away from the bomb.

"Na! I'm good!" Mikey said as he slowly backed away.

Back in the living room, the rest of the crew converged around the coffee table with the blueprints for TCRI spread out on the table.

"Okay, so I downloaded and printed off the blueprints for TCRI, just like you asked me to. Now, the two bottom thirds are just a normal office building, and from what I can tell, normal humans work there." April said giving Casey an opportunity for a remark,

"Can you guys imagine if the humans working there knew who they were working for?" Casey remarked,

"Yeah, it would be chaos. The TCRI building is one of New York's skyscrapers. It's in plain sight yet no-one takes a second look at it." Said Angel. As she did, Leo was finalising his plan to infiltrate TCRI, which involved everyone in the Lair.

Including Splinter, who had changed his wardrobe. He was no longer in his robe, but instead he wore what looked like a navy ninja suit, no arm sleeves, had a pair of silken arm guards, the top part of the suit was tied together by a red coloured belt, a pair of navy (most likely silk) pants complete with a pair of black ninja boots. He had adjusted his uniform slightly so his tail could come out (and also make walking and fighting less awkward). Finally, his weapon of choice, a single katana strapped to his waist that was longer than Leo's twin katana, his single katana was five feet long, longer than Leo's sword but shorter than Donnie's steel staff/ naginata. The suit was complete with the Hamato Clan symbol strapped onto his upper arms. He looked ready for battle.

Splinter then looked toward April for the most obvious question about the building,

"What about the upper floors?" Splinter asked,

"Well, that's the thing. The top third is completely blank." April answered.

"Whatever they're doing up there, they didn't want anybody to know about it." Leo said as he slipped a small knife behind the straps on his right wrist.

"Which means, that is exactly where we need to go." Splinter said and then turned to Leo, "Leonardo, we will go over our plan. We need to make sure everybody knows what they are doing." Splinter said and as he did so, Donnie and Mikey emerged from the lab with Donnie carrying the bomb in his hands. "First, get your friends Leatherhead and Slash. I'm sure they will want to be in on this plan as well." Splinter ordered. And when Leo nodded in understanding and left the Lair, things would soon start coming ahead.

10:24pm… TCRI ground level…

Part one of plan: infiltration. Knowing the Kraang, they would be on guard now that they had the Power-Cell and would do anything to make sure it didn't get stolen again. It was only when April made a comment on being delivered to the Kraang in a box that gave Leo the idea to do just that. Only instead of one box, April and Angel would deliver two giant crates. Big enough for about three people and a large mutant for each crate. It took a bit of effort but thanks to a crate-sized trolley, the two girls pushed the crates through the open and close doors of TCRI.

"Special Delivery!" the two girls said in unison as they rolled the trolley carrying the crates and they pushed them away towards the open elevator, stopping as they hit the elevator's doorframe. April whispered 'Good luck, guys' as they did. The lobby area looked like any other office lobby except for a Ms Campbell robot at the reception desk. The robot then appeared the two girls and grabbed their arms.

"I must ask you two to leave. We are closed now." The Ms Campbell robot said robotically as April and Angel struggled to get out the robot's grip. Knowing something wasn't right, the Kraang surrounded the two girls with their blasters pointed at them.

"The package that was delivered to us by you will not be delivered by you to us because you will stopped by us before you-" but before the Kraang could finish, Angel interrupted,

"Love to chat but, we gotta go now!" Angel announced and then April used her free arm to snap a picture in the Ms Campbell robot's face, the flash made it flinch letting them both go and then Angel whipped out a yo-yo from her pocket and spun it overhead at all the Kraang, they flinched back, giving April and Angel the opportunity to escape through the sliding doors, which they did before the emergency gate shut them in.

"Open with care Kraang chumps!" April taunted as the two girls ran from the building. After they escaped, the Kraang turned their blasters at the two crates by the open elevator.

"Kraang, prepare to destroy that which is needing to be destroyed by Kraang." One of the Kraang said in its ever-monotone voice and their blasters were ready to fire. But as they did, the crates exploded outwards with the arrival of two large mutants and a mask wearing vigilante attacking them. Leatherhead and Slash roared a battle cry as they attacked the Kraang and Casey did the same with a shout of 'Goongala!' As they did, the elevator doors closed but the Kraang failed to notice because of the chaos going on in the lobby.

Inside the elevator…

The remaining five mutant ninjas separated from the other three warriors in the lobby, and using the chaos as a distraction, they went inside the elevator and closed the door. After that, they climbed up through the elevator top hatch. Mikey looked a little worried for some reason.

"Do you think they'll be alright there?" Mikey asked and as if on cue, the sound of Leatherhead roaring, Slash shouting and Casey bellowing 'GOONGALA' indicated that they would be alright.

"I think they'll be fine." Leo said.

"So, how far to the top?" Raph asked and all five ninjas looked up at the vertical blackness of the elevator shaft. It was a very long way up to the top. "Yikes…"

With the assistance of the ninja's shuko spikes attached to their hands, the ninjas climbed up the elevator shaft smoothly. Mikey meanwhile was humming a tune that sounded a lot like the Olympics theme.

"Are you…. Humming the Olympics theme?" Donnie asked as he looked towards Mikey incredulously. Also taking note of the bag he had strapped to his shoulder that was carrying his homemade bomb.

"It seemed appropriate!" Mikey said with a smile. This just annoyed Raph though.

"Pipe down, you two." Raph said and then he climbed up to stand in front of a door and began to force it open.

"Raphael, wait!" Splinter ordered but it was too late and Raph forced the doors open. Only to slam them shut at what he saw.

"Aaahh! I gotta wash my eyes!" Raph said as his eyes went to the size of dinner plates for a split second. It looked like he just walked in on something he didn't want to see. Then the alarms in the building sounded. "That's bad!"

"Alright!" Mikey shouted as if he accomplished something, causing his brothers and his Sensei to look at him for an answer, "Finally someone set off the alarm, and now you can't say I did it!" Mikey explained as he grinned. But no-one had time to banter back as the elevator door opened to reveal a lone Kraang shooting at them, the ninjas bounced and dodged from wall to wall to avoid being shot. Mikey then shot out his kusarigama chain and wrapped it around the Kraand droid and pulled it down.

"See ya next fall!" Mikey shouted as the Kraang fell through the elevator shaft, the fall stopping as the droid slammed into the elevator. Despite the situation they were in, his brothers couldn't help but groan at how bad that pun was. Splinter looked impassive as he was focused on the mission but in is head, he thought to himself _'no matter the situation, my sons will always find the time to be brothers, and not just ninjas on a mission.'_ However, the mission took on more excitement as the elevator started going up, with four Kraang standing on it and started shooting at them. The five ninjas dropped from their positions on the walls and how the Kraang's shots kept missing, no-one questioned it as they landed on the moving elevator and quickly destroyed their enemies. Splinter drew his long sword and sliced through one droid in two with one swipe of his sword, Leo sliced off one of the droid's heads, Raph stabbed another with his sai until it stopped working and Donnie bashed another against the wall, the elevator crushing it as it was caught between the moving elevator and the wall. Fight over, though it wasn't much of a fight.

"Okay, let's get inside where it's safe." Leo said as he then proceeded to open the elevator hatch but then Splinter stopped him by placing his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Leonardo, those droids came from within the elevator, there will most likely be more inside." Splinter said. Knowing he was probably right, Leo prepared one of Donnie's homemade smoke bombs. He opened the hatch and threw the smoke bomb inside. The room filled with dark purple smoke and all five dived in one after the other. In less than a few seconds, the sneak attack proved very effective as the five ninjas destroyed more of the Kraang droids inside the elevator. The Kraang never knew what had hit them.

The smoke cleared, and the five ninjas were all still standing amongst a pile alien scrap metal that were droids. Raph huffed a breath of annoyance,

"Can we please just ride this thing to the top now?" Raph asked. In response, Donnie tried to press a button inside the elevator that would've taken them to the top floor, but there was no response.

"We can't. There's a retinal scanner." Donnie said. Hearing this, Splinter picked up a droid's head and handed it to Donnie.

"Perhaps this will help, Donatello." Splinter said. With no much else to use, Donnie placed the droid's face on what he presumed to be the scanner. There were a few beeping noises before eventually…

" _THAT WHICH IS KNOWN AS 'ACCESS' IS GIVEN TO KRAANG."_ The recording sounded, indicating that they were now on their way to the top floor. The five relaxed momentarily inside the elevator as it proceeded to the top floor.

"Hey, this is so much easier." Mikey commented, and was followed up by Raph.

"Yeah, finally a chance to catch our breath." Raph said and then on cue, the elevator signalled that they had arrived on the top floor. The five ninjas then readied themselves for another fight. The doors opened they were not greeting by dozens of Kraang like they thought they would be, instead they were greeted by a flow of green gas.

"Poison gas!" Leo gasped as he and his brothers collapsed on the floor when they inhaled and coughed. Just as the gas, flowed into the elevator, Splinter quickly held his breath in before he breathed it in. But he had to act fast, he dashed out of the elevator, _'I need to find a way to get rid of this gas, quickly."_ His thoughts were answered as he took a quick look around and found a glass window and outside was the city skyline.

"It is one of ones that are intruders!" one Kraang said as it fired its blaster at Splinter. Splinter dashed and dodged out the way and put his first action to use, he quickly made his way to his attacker and sliced its head off. The droid lay uselessly on the ground and then he picked up the blaster quickly and fired it at the window. The window shattered after three shots and immediately the gas flowed out of the room and filled with much needed oxygen. Before they inhaled too much gas, the four turtles breathed in much that delicious oxygen greedily, as did Splinter.

Now that the gas cleared, all five ninjas could see that they were definitely in the right room. The room was a large mostly open space with the centre piece being the large portal like device in the middle of the room.

"We're good… let's go!" Leo said, a little out of breath and his voice was slightly higher than usual. Then ninjas then dashed out of the elevator and just in time as the room swarmed with at least dozen Kraang. The room would have probably been filled with even more Kraang, but the distraction and chaos down in the lobby proved to be more than effective and drew away most of the reinforcements.

As they scattered to avoid the laser fire from the Kraang, only Splinter noticed that Mikey found and picked up what looked a computer memory stick.

At this point in their chaotic lives, the ninjas were used to being shot at by Kraang blasters by now and so were flawlessly ducking and dodging the shots as they came. Splinter and Leo sliced through their enemies with their swords, Raph stabbed and slammed his enemies, Donnie bashed with his steel staff and sliced with his naginata, Mikey bashed through his enemies with his nunchucks. Now with less enemies to deal with, Donnie had the time now to plant the bomb in the area of the portal that he thought would do the most damage; on the side where one of the engines were.

"The bomb has been placed! We need to get to a safe distance!" Donnie said. And with that, the five ninjas ran to the other side of the room, they were together and the bomb would surely heavily damage the portal and they would just need to cover their eyes to be safe from the blast. Donnie then brought out his T-Phone and remotely activated the bomb. The bomb beeped and clicked until eventually…

 _ ***BANG***_

The bomb exploded. Donnie had made the bomb so that they would not get killed by the blast. As soon as the smoke covered the area, the ninjas assumed it was mission accomplished.

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

"We did it!"

"High three!"

Only Splinter did not cheer and when the smoke cleared and the sound of Kraang activated, they could see why. The portal was still standing, a light flickering around it, like a shield. And Leo caught on instantly,

"There's a forcefield?" he then turned to Donnie, "Why didn't you tell me?" Leo asked raising his voice up as he sounded like things were going badly quickly, which they were. Donnie answered him sarcastically,

"Well, because I wanted us to fail." He then scowled, "Obviously, I didn't know!" he shouted, but then the shouting was outdone by the portal working undamaged and was beginning to bring something through from its brilliantly pink light.

"The Portal!"

"Something is coming through!" Donnie worriedly said.

The light faded and its place, a giant rock monster, around ten feet big stood in its place. It didn't long for the monster to spot the five ninjas. The rock monster was then surrounded by supporting Kraang in small floating saucers. The five ninjas looked up at their new giant predicament.

"Welcome to Earth, giant rock man." Mikey said in a small voice. But that was all that could be said since the monster then roared before charging at the ninjas.

"Scatter! Don't let the monster pin you in one place!" Splinter ordered and the ninjas all scattered different directions as the monster tried to stomp on them.

"Wow! An entity made out of living rock! Wish I could study it…" Donnie said as he ran around the monster before attacking one of the legs from behind with his steel staff, but the moment he hit it, his staff gave a resounding *CLANG* before it bent slightly.

"Study him after we smash it to a million pieces!" Leo said as he charged in from the other side on the monster but the moment his katana hit the ankle area where he tried to slice, his katana snapped in two. "Or not…" seeing as they were ill equipped to be fighting the giant monster and bringing down the portal, Splinter knew there was nothing that they could do now.

"Boys, we must escape! There is nothing that we can do now!" Splinter said, frustrating Raph while everyone else agreed,

"What? We're giving up!" Raph complained which just served to annoy Leo,

"Yes! It's all part of our hilarious 'Let's all live routine'." Leo said at which Mikey and Splinter threw a few egg smoke bombs at the monster's face, blinding momentarily. The monster roared in frustration and when the smoke cleared, the five ninjas were nowhere to be seen.

Down in the Lobby…

The lobby was a mess of broken and destroyed Kraang droids. Standing amongst the pile were the large mutants, Leatherhead and Slash, and the teenage vigilante, Casey Jones. The Kraang have been trying to swarm the lobby to kill the three intruders but with no success. When the elevator sounded its arrival, the three prepared themselves for another round of fighting, but when the elevator door opened and revealed the five ninjas rushing out,

"Guys, we have to leave, now!" Leo ordered,

"is the portal destroyed/ We heard an explosion." Slash asked and the four turtles looked down at the reminder of their most recent failure. Giving the other members of their group a clear idea of what transpired on the top floor.

"What? You guys failed?" Casey exclaimed,

"We will discuss this later, when we are not in enemy territory." Splinter said and with that, the group of eight ran from the building.

11:06pm…

The Lair was quiet as April and Angel waited anxiously for news about the mission. When the elevator opened to reveal the eight fighters entering the Lair, their faces lit up.

"You're okay!" April said in delight, the two girls were about to make their way to the eight to hear of their tales, but as they did, they saw their glum faces and stopped and their faces also fell.

"What happened?" Angel asked. The group of eight mingled around the Lair before answering.

"We failed. The portal is still operational." Leo said. "And now that we've tried to break in and destroy the portal once, the Kraang will increase their security. We're not going to have another chance for a while now." Leo continued. Raph then took on a look of great irritation.

"This stinks! We climbed up the elevator, survived poison gas, took out a group of Kraang only to see that the bomb couldn't destroy the portal thanks to a forcefield." Raph complained and at the mention of poison gas, Slash felt the need to enlighten them on it.

"Poisonous for a good reason. In Dimension X, that gas is what the Kraang breath in to survive." Slash said which gave Raph the moment to make a retort,

"Well that's stupid. Why would invade a place where you can't even breathe the air?" Raph said and when it was put like that, it did sound stupid. Until…

"Yeah, what are they gonna do? Mutate the whole planet so they can live here and we can't?" Mikey said jokingly but it was that that made everyone else gasp at the realisation that it could be more than possible.

"I don't know what's scarier. What you said or that you said it." Donnie said worryingly, causing confusion in Mikey,

"Wait, wait. What I say?" Mikey asked,

"Mikey could be right. The Kraang are trying the terraform the Earth into something they can live on." Donnie said,

"And we cannot." Splinter followed, equally stunned at the realisation. But even though it was possible, Leatherhead and Slash looked confused,

"But Slash and I have been prisoners in Dimension X for some time. It is a horrible place to be and yet the Kraang thrive there." Leatherhead said and was then followed up by Slash,

"Yeah. Since they do, it still makes me wonder why they would invade Earth in the first place." Slash said and at this, the ten inside the Lair could only wonder why. That was until…

"Well maybe this do-hickey can help us." Mikey said as he held up the computer memory stick he found in TCRI earlier, all looked to him and the device and Leatherhead, Slash and Donnie realised what it was.

"Do you realise what this is?" Donnie asked Mikey as he took the device from him.

"Shiny!" Mikey answered but Donnie was too focused on the device to pay any heed to the daft answer.

"It's a Kraang data storage device! If I can decode it, maybe it can help us find a way to stop them." Donnie said as he went to his new makeshift lab, followed by Leatherhead and Slash.

11:20pm…

After going through all the details of the failed mission, it left all with questions rather than answers, and April was the first to voice them as she and Splinter sat on the sofa,

"This just doesn't make any sense. If the Kraang are trying to terraform the Earth, what do they need my Dad for?" April asked as she recounted the time that she and her Dad were kidnapped by the Kraang and saved by the turtles.

"Well… he is a scientist." Leo said plainly as he sat of the opposite chair, but April corrected his statement,

"No, he isn't. His doctorate comes from psychology, not science. He doesn't study chemicals, he studies rats running through mazes. No offense." April explained and then apologised to Splinter for the rats and mazes quote,

"I like a good maze." Splinter said as he shrugged it off,

"My Dad wouldn't know anything about what they were trying to do." April said and then Raph spoke up from he stood next to Leo,

"Well, if they didn't need your Dad, why were they after him in the first place?" Raph asked and it was a good question for a second until Donnie stepped out of his lab, looking grim as he answered,

"I don't think they were." Donnie said and then motioned for everyone to come to his lab. His was smaller than his previous one and allowed himself, Leatherhead, Slash, April and Splinter inside comfortably. His brothers had to listen from outside his lab, but Donnie made sure they could hear him as well. He typed on his computer as he explained his findings,

"I used the Kraang processor inside Metalhead to access the files on the Kraang storage device. We now have a lot of info on the Kraang and their plans, but this one stuck out, I think I know what they were after." Donnie said and with a few final keystrokes, images popped up on his computer. Images and headshots of April appeared everywhere on his screen along with Kraang writing and texts that no-one understood, images that were taken without her consent, giving her a momentary shock.

"They're after _me_?" April said with surprise all over her voice. "Why?" a good question, one that didn't seem to have an answer on the storage device.

"I don't know. Whatever the reason, the Kraang didn't file it." Donnie said. The feeling rose up again as they were left with questions rather than answers.

?...?

It was the same dark room as before that was alit with a single spotlight shining down on the lone man as before, the man that is referred to as Guardian. He knelt down and began to give his report.

"My Masters, I give to you my report."

" **Speak, Guardian."** The four, same sounded monotone voices ordered the man,

"I have been informed by Guardian Hamato Yoshi that the Kraang, for some reason need the girl called April O'Neil in their plans. One of which includes terraforming Earth." Guardian said.

"This is troubling news."

"For what purpose…"

"… does this girl have…"

"…that the Kraang want?" the voices said separately.

"So far, we know not. What shall we do with this information?" Guardian asked.

"Inform Guardian Hamato Yoshi…"

"…to keep this girl safe…"

"… and to find out…"

"… as much as he can about her…" the voices ordered.

"Yes, masters. Also, I give my report about some recent intelligence about our enemy, Shredder." Guardian said,

" **Speak, Guardian."** The four voices said together,

"Two weeks from now, the Shredder will receive a shipment of weapons and other materials from one of his allies. For whatever reason why, we don't know." Guardian said.

"The Shredder is our enemy…"

"…his plans must not…"

"…come to fruition…"

"…stop that shipment…" the voices ordered,

"It shall be done Masters." Guardian said and stood to do a respectful bow before leaving the darkened room.

* * *

 **me: hey there! Hoped you guys liked my addition to the story, adding Splinter in the mission and his change of clothes! In case you were wondering, this outfit is similar to what he wore in the 2003 cartoon when the human Hamato Yoshi was a the Utrom Guardian. Spoiler alert- he will be on missions with his sons more often! Until next time!**


End file.
